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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Homeless shelter still without permanent location

Many gathered in the Prince Edward County courthouse on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. to show the Board of Visitors their support for an amendment continuing allowance for homeless shelters to remain in the county.

The homeless shelter was started seven years ago by the Farmville Area Rescue Mission (FARM). They would welcome people three months out of the year so that they would have a warm place to stay. FARM President Johnna Shular and FARM Secretary Debora Warner, as well as other members of the community, came together in support of the shelter.

The Longwood’s Epsilon Tau chapter of Delta Zeta sorority showed support with approximately 10 members present, including President Carli Hanback, who spoke in favor of passing the amendment.

The Board of Visitors consists of Calvin L. Gray of the Prospect District, Odessa H. Pride of the Hampden District, C. R. “Bob” Timmons of the Buffalo District, Wade Bartlett who is the county administrator, Robert M. Jones of the Lockett District, Jerry R. Townsend of the Leigh District, Jim Wilck of the Farmville District, Howard F. Simpson of the Farmville District and Patty Cooper-Jones who is also of the Farmville District.

There was a long discussion held between the members of the board and a motion was made to accept the amendment, however the amendment failed in a tied vote (4-4). Jones suggested the formation of a committee to look into whether or not churches could host those looking to stay in a homeless shelter.

“That’s been my dream for seven years, that we get somewhere permanent. So, this was our attempt to go permanent,” said Shular.

There had previously been a house that served as the shelter, but due to miscommunications, FARM was told that they had to shut down the house. The group is currently operating out of churches in the Prince Edward area.

According to the board, in order to be able to have another permanent location like the house before, the Board of Supervisors would have had to approve an amendment that allowed changes to the zoning ordinance. Then, it would have been sent back to the county’s planning commission.

FARM had a one-year lease with the house they had been using, which is located in Prince Edward County off of Hampden-Sydney road, according to Shular.

The group had received their certificate of occupancy and had moved into the house in the month of October. What led to the shutting down of the shelter was that the certificate was to go before the county administrator, but had somehow fallen through the cracks and was never seen, according to Shular.

“Our assumption is that someone brought it to his attention when they found out we were there. So we had operated a month, the whole month of October. Sheltering just about every night and then we got the phone call,” Shular said.

According to Shular, when the shelter is in a permanent location, they want to have Longwood students come out and help. Warner said they are currently up and running in St. John’s Lutheran Church and will continue to do so through the month of March.

For more information about the homeless shelter, visit the Farmville Area Rescue Mission’s website.

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