Reston, Virginia is a very affluent city, but there are many residents without homes. These individuals have lived for years in an encampment near the INOVA urgent care center, on the corner of Baron Cameron Avenue and Fountain Drive. Now, that encampment has been cleared. Some of the residents found shelter, and others remain homeless in other parts of Reston.
Although there is a shelter in Reston, many cannot stay there for two main reasons. The first is that there is a months-long waitlist to get a bed at the Embry Rucker shelter. The second is that for many unhoused people, a tent in the woods is a superior quality of life than a mat in the shelter, where there is no privacy and where you’re only allowed to reside for nighttime hours.
Keep following this page for news about the circumstances and needs of unhoused Restonians. Subscribe below to receive newsletters.