Waynesboro: WARM permit will allow for additional mother, children in supportive housing

Affordable housing is in high demand throughout the region, and Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry got the green light Monday night to open its doors to one additional unhoused family.

Waynesboro City Council voted 4-0 to amend the existing conditional use permit to increase the number of people allowed in its Ruth VanCleve Anderson House from 30 to 35 including residents, visitors and volunteers.

The amendment also removes the requirement for three staff members to be present at the house – and lowers the requirement to one staff member who will make sure residents comply with curfews and will be awake and present to open the door for residents coming late from work, as well as be present if fire, rescue or police are called to the house for any reason.

No one signed up to speak during the public hearing that was held prior to the vote.

Mayor Lana Williams was not present at the meeting.

The Ruth VanCleve Anderson House at 1035 Fairfax Avenue provides supportive housing for women and children.

In September, WARM opened a new administrative building on Fairfax Avenue. The new space has offices for staff, meeting spaces and cubicles, and allowed WARM staff to move offices from the Anderson House to the new building. As a result, it opened up additional space at the Anderson House for a multi-purpose library room and another room for a resident with children.

“The exciting part is we are able to provide another room to a mother and children that we were not otherwise able to do,” said WARM Acting Executive Director and Board Chair Brian Edwards told Waynesboro City Council before the vote.

The amendment to the conditional use permit issued in 2013, and amended once in 2018, will allow for one additional woman and her children to reside in a room at the home, Edwards said.

For more information, visit https://www.warmwaynesboro.org/

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