September 23, 2021

About 1,300 Afghan refugees have settled in the Washington, DC, area since last fall, and thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming months. While many incoming refugees have family ties to the area, it’s also one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, and evacuees will receive limited federal assistance, making it more difficult to find cost effective housing. “We’re advising people that Northern Virginia may not be the best place because there is such a saturation [in the housing market] and there are high rental prices,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, chief executive of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. “But sometimes, people, that’s the only place they know. That’s where they will go.”

A new pilot program in DC will permanently close three homeless encampments and intensively engage residents to provide housing and other services. Since last year, the number of encampments has increased, and the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness jumped 20 percent. Skeptics worry people may not trust the government enough to accept services and that closing encampments will criminalize homelessness. Proponents hope the program will provide a successful model that can be replicated; Aaron Howe—a cofounder of the mutual aid group Remora House – says their group aims to “let the pilot program exist by itself without the clearing, so we can actually evaluate its effectiveness. Because if it is effective, then the number of tents in that area should be reduced anyway.”

The Washington Black Trans Task Force plans to create a housing facility for at least 25 Black trans women, femmes, and nonbinary people experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness. The organization will transform a former hotel or nursing home into supportive housing by mid-2022. The program hopes to fill a gap for communities underserved by existing systems through gender-affirming, culturally competent wraparound support services. Ebo Barton, the director of Lavender Rights Project’s housing services, notes, “It’s very important that we listen to what Black trans women and femmes are saying and not what we want to hear.”

Students across the country are having trouble finding housing for the fall semester as their colleges return to in-person classes, in areas with tight housing markets. Before the pandemic, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) guaranteed housing for first- and second-year students but has since changed its housing policy to a lottery system. Students who thought they were covered are now scrambling to find housing, a challenge particularly difficult for students with low incomes. Now, UCSD is working with Marriott to offer students housing options, along with other services like the Basic Needs Emergency Grant, which is available to students without sufficient funds for food or housing.