Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Homeless Youth in Fairfax County?
Posted by:
Down on Yer Luck
()
Date: July 15, 2013 07:16AM
Homeless Youth in Fairfax County?
http://fallschurch.patch.com/groups/volunteer-fairfaxs-blog/p/homeless-youth-in-fairfax-county_4bb65372
“Homeless people are just lazy. They have no work ethic. People choose to be homeless,” this is the myth that most people hold regarding the homeless. This stereotype is far from the truth. In fact, homelessness is a problem in Fairfax County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation.
What does it mean to be “homeless”? It’s obvious, right? Maybe it’s not so obvious. Homeless, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education, is anyone, who due to a lack of housing, lives in inadequate or temporary settings, such as: emergency shelters, hotels, trailer parks, cars, or doubled up with relatives or friends because of loss of housing or economic hardship. In order to tackle this issue, we must dispel any ignorance that people have regarding the homeless and become knowledgeable about the facts of homelessness.
Here are the facts:
Most homeless people are single men. WRONG.
· Contrary to popular belief, not all homeless people are single men. Nearly sixty percent of all homeless persons in Fairfax County are in families and thirty-five percent are youths under the age of eighteen.
Homeless people don’t have jobs. INCORRECT.
· In fact, sixty percent of adults in homeless families in Fairfax County are employed.
Homeless kids don’t go to school. FALSE.
· During the 2010-11 school year, 2,278 Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students were identified as homeless.
There are no homeless people in my town. They only live in the city. WRONG AGAIN.
· Bet you didn’t know that Fairfax County is home to the second largest number of people without homes in the region, second only to Washington, D.C.
Homeless people choose to be so. NOT TRUE.
· The top reason people become homeless in Fairfax County is because their income does not keep pace with the increasing cost of housing. Other reasons include domestic violence, disabilities, and lack of basic life skills.
“Homelessness is such a big problem that I can’t do anything to help it.” That’s another lie. Now that you have the facts, it is time to take action.
One great way to help end homelessness in Fairfax County is by having a Food Drive. Get together with your business, church, school, family, or friends and hold a Food Drive! Not sure how to run a Food Drive? Food for Others can help! Check out their Power Pack Program Food Drive Planning Kit...
http://foodforothers.org/documents/FoodDriveP3PlanningKit_000.pdf
Attachments:
http://fallschurch.patch.com/groups/volunteer-fairfaxs-blog/p/homeless-youth-in-fairfax-county_4bb65372
“Homeless people are just lazy. They have no work ethic. People choose to be homeless,” this is the myth that most people hold regarding the homeless. This stereotype is far from the truth. In fact, homelessness is a problem in Fairfax County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation.
What does it mean to be “homeless”? It’s obvious, right? Maybe it’s not so obvious. Homeless, as defined by the U.S. Department of Education, is anyone, who due to a lack of housing, lives in inadequate or temporary settings, such as: emergency shelters, hotels, trailer parks, cars, or doubled up with relatives or friends because of loss of housing or economic hardship. In order to tackle this issue, we must dispel any ignorance that people have regarding the homeless and become knowledgeable about the facts of homelessness.
Here are the facts:
Most homeless people are single men. WRONG.
· Contrary to popular belief, not all homeless people are single men. Nearly sixty percent of all homeless persons in Fairfax County are in families and thirty-five percent are youths under the age of eighteen.
Homeless people don’t have jobs. INCORRECT.
· In fact, sixty percent of adults in homeless families in Fairfax County are employed.
Homeless kids don’t go to school. FALSE.
· During the 2010-11 school year, 2,278 Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students were identified as homeless.
There are no homeless people in my town. They only live in the city. WRONG AGAIN.
· Bet you didn’t know that Fairfax County is home to the second largest number of people without homes in the region, second only to Washington, D.C.
Homeless people choose to be so. NOT TRUE.
· The top reason people become homeless in Fairfax County is because their income does not keep pace with the increasing cost of housing. Other reasons include domestic violence, disabilities, and lack of basic life skills.
“Homelessness is such a big problem that I can’t do anything to help it.” That’s another lie. Now that you have the facts, it is time to take action.
One great way to help end homelessness in Fairfax County is by having a Food Drive. Get together with your business, church, school, family, or friends and hold a Food Drive! Not sure how to run a Food Drive? Food for Others can help! Check out their Power Pack Program Food Drive Planning Kit...
http://foodforothers.org/documents/FoodDriveP3PlanningKit_000.pdf
Attachments:
Re: Homeless Youth in Fairfax County?
Posted by:
UFUFH
()
Date: July 15, 2013 12:31PM
Duh. The average apartment in Fairfax County STARTS at $1,000/month for a 1 bedroom (source: apartments.com).
Per usual leasing guidelines- 36x rent= MININMUM salary to qualify (so $36,000 or $17.30 per hour full time). 2 bedroom? Try $1,300 or $46,800 MINIMUM income required (that's $22.50 per hour!)
If you're working in a big box making $8 per hour- or even in a hotel making say $12-14 per hour... it will take 2 of you to get that ONE BEDROOM apartment. Or you have to work 2 jobs. Thanks Obama for this GREAT economy and job market of ours- where jobs that used to pay $15 plus now you are lucky to get $10 per hour!!!!
Best bet- head down south to Spotsylvania or out Culpepper or something like that (make sure you have a reliable car, NO METRO! See- another cost!!!)- any single person making anything less than $17 an hour 40 hour weeks is gonna have a hard time gettig housing on their own here in Fairfax. EVEN for the supposed "income restricted" apartments- they STILL need $15-17 per hour to qualify!
Either that or get chummy with a relative or friend and be used to the roommate lifestyle.
Best of all- go back to school or something and improve your skillset to make more. But then again, there will ALWAYS be a need for these lower-income jobs in the service industry- they will ALWAYS need a place to live near work, but of course there's not much left in Fairfax County proper any single person could afford on their own.
My dad was proud to tell me stories of how he worked at Hechinger's back in the day and kept a studio apartment at southern towers (alexandria but still...) AND kept a car note for a little chevy and STILL had money left to go out to eat every now and then ON HIS OWN making LESS THAN $10 per hour. You can't even do that now on $20 per hour!!!!!
And they are knocking down all the lower income places as fast as they can- 12 units for low income vs. the 300 that are there now? Please!
http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/council-approves-plans-to-replace-layton-hall-apartments
/soapbox rant
Per usual leasing guidelines- 36x rent= MININMUM salary to qualify (so $36,000 or $17.30 per hour full time). 2 bedroom? Try $1,300 or $46,800 MINIMUM income required (that's $22.50 per hour!)
If you're working in a big box making $8 per hour- or even in a hotel making say $12-14 per hour... it will take 2 of you to get that ONE BEDROOM apartment. Or you have to work 2 jobs. Thanks Obama for this GREAT economy and job market of ours- where jobs that used to pay $15 plus now you are lucky to get $10 per hour!!!!
Best bet- head down south to Spotsylvania or out Culpepper or something like that (make sure you have a reliable car, NO METRO! See- another cost!!!)- any single person making anything less than $17 an hour 40 hour weeks is gonna have a hard time gettig housing on their own here in Fairfax. EVEN for the supposed "income restricted" apartments- they STILL need $15-17 per hour to qualify!
Either that or get chummy with a relative or friend and be used to the roommate lifestyle.
Best of all- go back to school or something and improve your skillset to make more. But then again, there will ALWAYS be a need for these lower-income jobs in the service industry- they will ALWAYS need a place to live near work, but of course there's not much left in Fairfax County proper any single person could afford on their own.
My dad was proud to tell me stories of how he worked at Hechinger's back in the day and kept a studio apartment at southern towers (alexandria but still...) AND kept a car note for a little chevy and STILL had money left to go out to eat every now and then ON HIS OWN making LESS THAN $10 per hour. You can't even do that now on $20 per hour!!!!!
And they are knocking down all the lower income places as fast as they can- 12 units for low income vs. the 300 that are there now? Please!
http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/council-approves-plans-to-replace-layton-hall-apartments
/soapbox rant