Steven stood in the woods and looked over what he had made. Beneath the trees, there were swooping constructions everywhere, carefully pieced together from tarps and mop heads; emergency blankets twisted through arching piles of bicycle tires; fishing lines and tent poles twined with colorful ribbons catching the afternoon sun.
By Kyle Swenson
“Every little piece that I pick up has got some significance,” said Steven, who spoke on the condition of partial anonymity due to privacy concerns. “It makes me happy to tie them together and keep them going as something more than landfill.”
On Monday, Steven left those sculptures behind, following orders from Fairfax County officials to clear the encampment by Tuesday morning. The Reston site was the second homeless encampment cleared this month, as the affluent county takes a more active role in removing unsanctioned camping areas and urging residents into temporary shelter. Last week, the county’s park authority also cleared tents and belongings from Towers Park, an encampment in the Fairfax Circle area.
“The closure was a necessary step, and the encampment was on land that Fairfax County will use for a new homeless shelter with permanent supportive housing and a new regional library,” Fairfax Supervisor Walter L. Alcorn said Tuesday in a statement. “This is not the end of homelessness in Reston, but our efforts are a model for county-community collaboration to meaningfully address homelessness.”
Nearly 30 residents had been living at “The Hill” earlier this month, according to advocates who regularly work with the unsheltered people living at the site. County officials had announced on Aug. 27 that residents needed to go. A handful of residents opted to head for a temporary shelter set up by authorities. Others abandoned the site, leaving behind tents, clothing and tidy piles of garbage.
Homelessness continues to rise since the pandemic, with more suburban areas seeing an uptick in unhoused individuals over the past few years. Every jurisdiction in the region except for Fairfax saw an increase in homelessness this year, according to the latest Point-in-Time census from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Since 2020, Fairfax’s homeless population has grown by 23 percent, although it saw a decrease of 2 percent from last year. At the time of the census, Fairfax had 1,278 people living on the street or in shelters.
“The Hill” has been home to people with nowhere else to go for over 10 years,” said Mary Paden, chair of the Fairfax’s NAACP Fair and Affordable Housing Committee, which has advocated for the county to increase its housing options for individuals living on the street. The Hill’s location — close to government buildings and a hospital — makes it a convenient place for the unsheltered, many of whom are waiting for a spot to open on the waiting list for permanent supportive housing.
Members of a local nonprofit, Reston Strong, have been working with The Hill’s residents to help them find medical services, food and mental health assistance. Over the past few years, the group has developed a working relationship with those on the site, said Sarah Selvaraj D’Souza, the volunteer group’s executive director. They have helped organized garbage pickups and offered assistance with government housing applications.
“Our volunteers know most everyone staying here by name, and they know us,” D’Souza said. After alerting members to the situation on “The Hill,” Reston Strong was flooded with offers to help the encampment’s residents. But the group also knew that simply offering a hotel room or extra bedroom to a Hill resident would only be a temporary solution.
“We’ve heard from many people offering homes these people can use, or RVs and campers,” D’Souza said. “That’s not the issue. The issue is bureaucracy and red tape.”
One Hill resident packing up on Monday told The Washington Post that he had lived there for a year and was on a wait list for permanent housing. The 66-year-old man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns, said he had already begun spending nights in the shelter. However, the shelter was only open from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., he said, leaving him with nowhere to go for the rest of the day.
“I’m begging they will keep me in Reston. My doctor is here, all my prescriptions are here at the Harris Teeter,” he said. “I know I won’t get anything in September, but I’m hoping for October. Fingers crossed.”
In the final days before the scheduled clearing, Reston Strong focused on resettling the three seniors still at the site. The group announced Monday night that they had successfully been moved into a hotel, including Steven.
“A gracious member of the community stepped up after the call for help went out,” the group said in a statement emailed to reporters, adding that it would cover the expenses. “The county has offered assurance that this emergency arrangement will not impact their qualifications for long-term housing,” the group added.
On Tuesday morning, the encampment was empty, according to the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness.
Steven’s art pieces are still standing in the now-empty camp, according to Reston Strong.
