On March 8, more than 250 service providers, city staff and faith community members throughout South Hampton Roads gathered at Old Dominion University's Webb Center for the 2012 South Hampton Roads Regional Conference On Ending Homelessness. The conference provided a forum for sharing national best practices and promoting strategic planning.
Mayor William D. Sessoms, Jr., joined Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, Chesapeake Mayor Alan P. Krasnoff and Portsmouth Vice Mayor Charles B. Whitehurst in recognizing the regional accomplishments to end homelessness and urged attendees to continue moving beyond managing the issue and striving for permanent solutions.
Subject matter experts from across the nation provided workshops on topics including accessing services for homeless veterans, prisoner reentry strategies, transitional housing programs for disconnected youth, and employment strategies for the homeless.
The conference was hosted by the
South Hampton Roads Regional Task Force to End Homelessness, a partnership between the Cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach; Isle of Wight County; The Planning Council; United Way of South Hampton Roads and non-profit organizations throughout the region.