No one should be punished for surviving without a home.
The proposed ordinance would make it a crime to sleep on public property — despite the fact that Hampton currently has no full-time shelter and no capacity to absorb the unhoused population. The only emergency options have strict two-week limits, and many are already at capacity.
Meanwhile, the city’s own data and regional partnerships confirm the root issue:
🏘️ Lack of affordable housing, not personal failure.
📈 Rents have risen 39–61% in the region.
🚫 There is no permanent emergency shelter.
🧠 Mental health care is chronically underfunded.
📊 The recent Virginia Peninsula Homelessness Study (May 13) makes clear that long-term solutions require regional coordination, housing investment, and outreach — not criminalization.
Yet Hampton is moving forward with this ordinance before those regional recommendations are even finalized. That’s unacceptable.
🛠️ We Demand:
- No vote on the ordinance until the 90-day regional recommendations are released.
- Immediate steps to fund and establish a permanent emergency shelter in Hampton.
- A citywide commitment to invest in affordable housing, not criminal enforcement.
🤝 Key Allies & Data:
- HELP: local shelter provider already overwhelmed. (helphampton.org)
- Virginia Organizing: grassroots coalition with chapters in Newport News and statewide (HOME Report)
- The Planning Council (Norfolk): data and policy support (theplanningcouncil.org/)
- May 13 Peninsula Homelessness Study: cites affordability as top driver
- HUD data (VA-505): confirms unsheltered numbers exceed capacity
- Housing Not Handcuffs One Pager Fact Sheet.
🔥 What You Can Do:
✅ Join organizing calls – Coordinate strategy and testimony
✅ Testify at city council – Demand delay, investment, and care
✅ Distribute flyers – Raise awareness in our communities
✅ Reach out to HELP, Virginia Organizing, Planning Council – Build coalition strength
Hampton doesn’t need more arrests — it needs more homes.
🏠 Housing is a human right.