“The homeless is not just trash, there is people out there that is homeless that is good people” Edith Cupp said when talking about her experience being homeless and the reaction people have towards her.
In 2022 Harrisonburg received 24 million dollars from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and put 5 million toward mental health organizations, renewing parks and playgrounds, building a 5th fire station, and constructing a new homeless shelter.
“All the services were not yet picked and we didn’t have all the tools,” Michael Parks, Harrisonburg director of communications, said about the delay in building the shelter, which was initially planned to be built in the fall of 2023 and has now been pushed back to the fall of 2024.
One concern for the shelter is shelter policy will let anyone in regardless of criminal history or sobriety, but Parks emphasized other organizations have done something similar and succeeded.
Kathy Ritcher “bag lunch ministry coordinator” at Harrisonburg Baptist Church said, “We’ve got people coming in that are looking for a safe haven. So if you’ve got other people coming in, who’s a threat to that, how do you minister to both? Because we want to love them.”
Edith Cupp discussed how much she appreciated the work Richer and the rest of the church did for her, not just with providing meals but assisting her in finding housing, work, and driving her to appointments when needed. She is currently homeless and she is about to find a stable living situation.
The city gives opportunities for people to help out and Cupp said she wants to help people who are in similar situations as her.“I have the lord in my heart and I want to be there for people,” she said.
Harold Bailey is the pianist at the Harrisonburg Baptist Cupp goes to and Richer works at. Bailey works with fundraisers that involve his musical expertise. The last event was for the purpose of “sharing music that relates our interest, and stories, and backgrounds.
These are a few examples of the people in the community assisting the less fortunate. There are many private owned businesses that run events to help their community, and others that are putting their efforts straight into the upcoming homeless shelter. “I feel like there are a lot of people in this community that care about homeless people. “I feel like there’s agencies offices and city council, that they really care about this. Are their challenges?. Yes, but I feel like this new homeless shelter I think is evidence that people care about this” Richer said.
“It’s how peoples talks to you […] if they talk nasty to you, you end up having a bad day, but you try to make it the best that you can” Edith Cupp
