'Everybody's circumstances are dramatically different'| Fairfax City Homelessness Task Force makes recommendations to council

"The ultimate goal is to create an understanding of the systemic issues that cause homelessness," said Amini Bonane, the chair of the Homelessness Task Force.

The task force was made up of 15 members, including elected officials, business owners, and residents of Fairfax.

They launched in 2023 and met 20 times between May 2023 and May of this year. They also took part in more than a dozen subcommittee meetings.

On Tuesday night, they presented 38 recommendations to the city council members.

"It's not a particular community, it is particular economic circumstances. The chief one being there is not enough housing for people," said Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read.

Homelessness is an issue across the country.

"If you actually talk to somebody who's unhoused, they're us. I've talked to a PhD who's living in her car. I've talked to a former high school principal who was unhoused," said Mayor Read.

Here locally, the Metro Washington Council of Governments says they've seen a 12% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness across the region. During their annual Point-In-Time (PIT) count, they found 9,774 people experiencing homelessness across the DMV.

In Fairfax County, there were 1,278 people facing this issue, a 2% decrease from 2023's count, but those numbers, Bonane says, don't paint the full picture.

"Young homeless people who aren't counted right because technically they're couch surfing or sleeping in their cars. So, you wouldn't know they're homeless. Homelessness can look like anything and anyone can become someone who is unhoused, but that doesn't take away their humanity," said Bonane.

Humanity, they say, is their focus.

"You think it's somebody else, it's not somebody else. A lot of us are one paycheck one medical problem, one crisis away from being that person who does not have a safety net and that's really what it comes down to," said Mayor Read.

One of the task force's priorities was asking for a permanent board to be created to continue their work.

"The city council will decide what things will move forward as far as programs, we have some small funding that we've set aside for funding.  Looking at things like initiatives like health care and mental health. We're working with George Mason University," said Mayor Read.

To see their full presentation to the council, click here.

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