The City of Charlottesville announced on Friday that it will begin a “coordinated transition” of people currently living in the Free Bridge encampment on the Rivanna riverfront on or around Sept. 1.
Per a release from the city, outreach teams made up of city staff and community partners will meet with people staying in the encampments “to assess their needs, connect them with available housing, shelter, healthcare, behavioral health, and other supportive services, and develop individualized transition plans whenever possible.”
“The city recognizes that homelessness is one of the most complex challenges facing communities across the country,” City Manager Sam Sanders said. “There are no quick or simple solutions, but we remain committed to treating every person with dignity and respect while balancing the needs of the entire community. This transition is centered on connecting people with services while returning this public space to its intended use. We are also exploring additional emergency shelter and housing options and will share more information as those efforts progress.”
Following the transition, camping will not be allowed at the riverfront location.
“The city will continue to have a public safety presence in the area and will manage the space in accordance with applicable laws and city policies while continuing to connect people with available resources when appropriate,” the release said.
This action comes on the heels of a reported July 9 sexual assault in the encampment, and the arrest on Wednesday of a suspect, Michael Shaft Brewington, 48, who was charged with aggravated sexual battery.
“Every member of our community deserves to feel safe, and that includes our unhoused neighbors,” Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis said, per a release from the city PD. “This arrest reflects our commitment to ensuring that those living unsheltered receive the same level of protection, respect, and diligent investigative effort as anyone else in Charlottesville.”
Kochis was named in a lawsuit filed by a city resident last week accusing the police department of failing to enforce trespassing laws at the encampment, which is home to an estimated 80 unhoused people in an area in a section of a public park located along the Rivanna River.
The suit, filed hours before the reported rape in the encampment, says the encampment “poses a threat to public safety and health” – listing the causes of that threat as “sewage produced by the encampment, dirty needles left by individuals in the encampment, and violence for the homeless.”
The Free Bridge encampment has been a community focus since the encampment began to form over the past year.
Charlottesville City Council voted last year to purchase a former hotel for $6.25 million with plans to convert the space into a low-barrier shelter for the unhoused.
The plans are coming along at a glacial pace, though, it appears.
The latest word on the shelter plans is that city staff and representatives of community groups that work with the unhoused are hoping to have a meeting of the minds in August to discuss next steps.
In the meantime, a 57-year-old homeless man was found dead in a tent last month, and in May, another man’s tent burned down.
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Chris Graham
