NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Per Newport News city orders, tents pitched on a grassy patch at the intersection of Warwick and Mercury Boulevards were dismantled and the homeless people who lived there have left.
Mark Wallace Humphries said he'll have to find a new home in the woods.
"For us, it being a very public site, it's a very safe site. I would say a lot of guys and ladies are going to go hidden into the woods," said Humphries.
For months, the city has grappled with the homeless, who were determined to make the area home.
Good Samaritan Ken Aydlott agreed to help one woman remove her belongings and store them at his house.
"You feel for people like this, so you want to help them as much as you can, so that's what we're doing," Aydlott said, tearing up as he thought about the difficulty she faces. "That's what Jesus teaches, so that's what we follow."
A statement from the City of Newport News reads, in part: This encampment is a public health and safety concern and our actions are not directed against the occupants but to address the associated issues with an encampment in proximity to the roadway and traffic. Encampments lack clean water, adequate hygiene facilities, and include the use of grills and open fires. These practices pose a severe health and safety risk to include fire hazards and potential harm to individuals in the encampment.
Homelessness is a complicated problem with no easy solutions. A regional effort is underway to make headway.
"Hampton Roads is not the best for sure but not the worst," said Julie Dixon, Vice President of Community Planning & Development for the Planning Council.
Dixon said the political will among local leaders to do more to find supportive housing increased following the COVID pandemic.
"Every jurisdiction has had some response and there are shelters under development in more than one place because they do want to respond to the year-round need," said Dixon.
The cities of Portsmouth and Suffolk are working on establishing shelters, and the city of Norfolk recently purchased a hotel to house 100 people and has plans to expand supportive housing at Gosnold Apartments. Virginia Beach City has increased services with the creation of the Housing Resource Center, a one-stop shop for people experiencing homelessness. Newport News has expanded services at its Four Oaks Day Center. The center provides several services from job development classes to housing assistance. It also provides showers, restrooms, laundry facilities, mailing services, family rooms, telephone, and computer access, haircuts, and storage for personal items.
According to the most recent point-in-time homeless persons count, Hampton Roads has 1,500 homeless people. But Dixon said that's only part of the story.
"Studies like from places like the Urban Institute tell you that you should probably multiply that by three to five times – so that you have a true understanding of how many people cycle through homelessness in your community," said Dixon.
The point-in-time count is conducted over a 24-hour period. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires cities that receive federal funding for homeless programs to conduct the annual count of their homeless population.
According to the Greater Virginia Peninsula Housing Consortium, the number of homeless persons on the Peninsula dropped to 412 in 2024 from 480 in 2023. Newport News saw the biggest drop decreasing from 306 to 184. In Southeastern Virginia – which includes Norfolk, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Franklin – the homeless population is 670 in 2024 up from 653 in 2023. Counts from Virginia Beach and Portsmouth are pending.
As local leaders continue to search for solutions, better results are far from the reach of the people who camped out along Warwick Boulevard.
Air Force veteran, Fred Brock sits at the corner of the street daily with a sign stating, "I need help." The recent heatwave got the best of him.
"I been to the hospital three times in the last month from heat exhaustion, and I had heat stroke," said Brock.
He has nowhere else to go as he hopes to collect enough money for a hotel room.
"I don't give up because God's going to take care of me."
If you need assistance, call the Housing Crisis Hotline: 757-587-4202; Toll Free: 866-750-4431.
