“No Address”, a film released this year that aims to bring compassion to a national crisis, will be screened at the Wayne Theatre, in partnership with Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry, or WARM, on Thursday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m.
Admission is pay what you will.
The film explores homelessness by following a young girl who ages out of foster care with nowhere to go. The storyline follows a group of homeless people as they struggle to survive on the streets against a harassing gang, an unforgiving community and local authorities.
“No Address” has an all-star cast including William Baldwin, Ashanti, Ty Pennington, Isabella Ferreira, Beverly D’Angelo, Kristanna Loken, Patricia Velasquez, Lucas Jade Zumann and Xander Berkeley.
Baldwin said the audience should realize through the film that “this could happen to anybody” and “it could be me next.”
Robert Craig Films will donate 50 percent of net profits from the film toward combatting homelessness in local communities throughout the nation with donations to a wide range of organizations and churches.
Stats on homelessness
- People on the streets die three to four times more often than those with housing
- Average age at death of a homeless individual? 46 years old
- Overdose risk of a homeless individual? 39 times higher
Sweeps of encampments happening now in D.C.
A crackdown is under way this week in Washington on the approximately 5,000 homeless individuals in the city. The National Guard was called in to rid the nation’s capital of unhoused people living in tents and on the streets.
Before a news conference to announce a federal takeover and directive this week, President Donald Trump posted to social media: “the homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY.”
Trump went on to say that “we will give you places to stay but FAR from the Capital.”
The news conference was held with no clear plan to address the root cause of homelessness and no clear direction or coordination with city officials or agencies who work with the unhoused community.
“There’s definitely a lot of chaos, fear and confusion,” Amber Harding, executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, told CNN.
“It doesn’t help that the messaging from the federal government has been all over the place. And there’s no communication or coordination with the DC government.”
Shortly after the announcement, the city scrambled to come up with options for its unhoused residents, saying it could provide shelter for 200 individuals.
There’s been no humane plan announced as to where the other 4,800 people should go.
The administration has said that police will give homeless people three options: go to a homeless shelter, go to an addiction or mental health treatment facility or go to jail.
The president’s push to bring in the National Guard has to do with a so-called desire to beautify the nation’s capital, and more specifically, clean up the route he takes when he is chauffeured to his private golf club. Since the announcement, major sweeps of encampments near the Lincoln Memorial and Kennedy Center have occurred.
The federal takeover of D.C. is taking place at a time when city officials say both crime and homelessness are on the decline. City residents join D.C. officials in shock over the sudden enforcement that began on encampments Wednesday.
“Being homeless isn’t a crime,” D.C. resident Sheiena Taylor told PBS, emphasizing the need for solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime rather than policing.
Advocates argue that housing alternatives are cheaper than jails or institutions, and without other options, the unhoused will end up back on the streets.
“[Housing] is cheaper than jail. It is cheaper than institutions. It is not effective to put someone in jail for a night,” Harding told NPR. “Where are they going when they get out? They’re going back to the street. You haven’t solved the problem.”
Waynesboro: Not a big city, but challenges still exist
The City of Waynesboro, where the “No Address” film screening will take place later this month, doesn’t have thousands of unhoused residents like Washington and other big cities.
Despite this, over the years, tent cities have popped up along the South River. In 2023, 21 homeless individuals were forced to pack up their belongings and move out of their makeshift home on Essex Avenue, a place they called Tentpocalypse.
In D.C., the city is using large construction equipment and dump trucks to dispose of tents and possessions of its homeless population. In Waynesboro, the property owner was more understanding, giving approximately one week for individuals to make other arrangements and providing resources to the individuals facing eviction.
“This is a terrible situation for the people who live there,” said Randall Wolf, a homeless advocate, when news broke about the tent city evictions. “They have nowhere to go that offers them a somewhat safe space. Most have applied for housing assistance and are on a wait list with 400 other people.
“It is easy to evict people from the land but for the city not to offer shelter to our neighbors in need is inhumane.”
The challenge in small cities like Waynesboro, and large cities like Washington, is a lack of affordable housing and limited space at shelters.
While there are rapid rehousing programs available in the area, the lack of housing often prevents getting people from placement in rental units within 30 days.
“Based on the level of need in our community and lack of affordable units, that’s just not often a reality,” Lydia Campbell, with Valley Community Services Board, told AFP.
Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry, who is co-hosting the film screening, provides overnight housing to the homeless population overnight in winter months. The cold-weather shelter is set up in churches in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County.
There is no day shelter for the unhoused in Waynesboro, and no overnight shelter outside of the winter months.
In 2024, there were 31 adults in the region sleeping in areas not meant for human habitation, according to a count completed by Valley Homeless Connection. The count also found 137 adults and children in emergency shelters, a 26.85 percent increase over the previous year. The region includes the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro and Lexington, and the counties of Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Buena Vista and Bath.
The WARM cold-weather shelter served 157 adult men and women, ranging in age from 19 to 70 years, last winter.
“The number of unsheltered neighbors choosing to stay with WARM during the CWS [cold-weather season] is indicative of the limited housing available to low income or those living on disability in the Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro area,” said Alec Gunn, executive director of WARM.
“All over the area new housing is being constructed but none of it is affordable to those who work for minimum wage or receive assistance due to physical or mental health diagnoses.”
‘No Address’ film trailer
Related stories
For more stories, search “housing insecurity” on Augusta Free Press.
- Trump has a bright idea that will eliminate DC’s homeless problem: Ship ’em out of town
- NAMI: ‘Grave concerns’ over putting nation’s homeless in institutions as solution to crisis
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- Waynesboro had a day shelter for the homeless; it was shut down due to zoning
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- Official count shows ‘concerning’ increase in individuals experiencing homelessness
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Crystal Graham
