The July Steering Committee meeting will take place at the home of Martha Keys at 100 Butler Court.
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A change in philosophy at the national and state level about how best to address homelessness contributed to the closing of the Sheltering Arms emergency shelter in Orange, according to Cathy Zielinski, program manager-human services planning for the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission.
Ms. Zielinski presented a status report on homelessness to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club at its May 17 meeting.
The topic is of particular interest to club members because they had supported Sheltering Arms with their money and volunteer time for years before it closed last fall. The shelter was one of the few emergency shelters in the region and the only one that served single men.
Ms. Zielinski said federal and state authorities are now emphasizing getting homeless persons into permanent housing rather than temporary shelters and transitional housing. The philosophy is that public funds should be directed toward permanent solutions to the problem of homelessness rather than to short-term fixes. The result, she said, is that emergency shelters have suffered severe budget cuts.
The regional strategy for combatting homelessness is to provide a continuum of care directed to getting the homeless into permanent housing they can afford, she said.
The Piedmont Housing Network, which includes Orange, Culpeper, Madison, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, the Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services Board and the area agency on aging, maintains four emergency shelters, six transitional housing units and a permanent supportive housing unit for persons with disabilities. Efforts have begun to work with landlords and property owners in the region to establish a system of permanent housing.
Cathy Zielinski, program manager-human services planning for the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, will speak to the club on the efforts of Orange County and its neighboring counties and towns to develop regional cooperation in addressing shared concerns, such as housing. transportation and tourism.
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May Steering Committee Meeting
The May Steering Committee meeting will be at Pat Drake’s home at 108 Riverdale Lane. For more information, call 540-972-8202. If the driveway is full, park on up the hill at the Big Marina.
Cathy Zielinski, program manager-human services planning for the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club at its May 17 meeting on the efforts of Orange County and its neighboring counties and towns to develop regional cooperation in addressing shared concerns, such as housing. transportation and tourism.
In addition to Orange County, the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission serves the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock, and the towns of Culpeper, Gordonsville, Madison, Orange, Remington, The Plains, Warrenton and Washington. It has its headquarters in Culpeper.
One of 21 regional commissions chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the commission provides professional planning and technical resources, a concerted approach to regional cooperation, planning assistance with program delivery, and a forum for the interaction of appointed and elected local government officials and citizen members.
A founding principle of the Commonwealth’s planning district commissions is “to encourage and facilitate local government cooperation and state-local cooperation in addressing on a regional basis problems of greater than local significance.” The Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission works to foster regional cooperation, coordination and collaboration through development of regional committees that focus on a variety of issues of importance to the region.
Ms. Zielinski serves as staff lead of the Commission’s Regional Workforce Affordable Housing Committee and Coordinated Human Services Mobility Planning initiative.
Active throughout the area in human services delivery for the past 15 years, most recently as project coordinator for the Rappahannock-Rapidan Eldercare Coalition, now called Aging Together, Ms. Zielinski holds a law degree from George Washington University and a Masters in Public Administration from Virginia Tech.
Ms. Zielinski has been with the Commission since 2006.
The club meets at 1:30 p.m. in the Lower Level of the LOW Clubhouse. Visitors, regardless of political affiliation, are welcome. Due to construction at the clubhouse, the lower level is accessible only by entering the front door and using the stairway.
To learn more about the Regional Planning Commission, try these links: