We d love to do it, but we don t have a place to put it, Emory said. It would involve investing a huge amount of money. Though costly, Stoops said transitional housing is important. We have found that someone does not become homeless overnight, he said. So it takes time to build them back up, too.
Transitional housing increases the chances of someone coming out of homelessness for good.
Also important to decreasing the number of homeless people is affordable housing, Stoops said. While women with children used to be the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, they have now been surpassed by the working poor, whose minimum-wage jobs don t pay enough for them to live. In Washington, a single person working minimum wage has to work 82 hours a week to afford a place to rent, Stoops said. It s probably not that different in Fredericksburg. Emory said the high cost of living in Fredericksburg keeps people on the streets and in the shelter.