I am writing today in order to express my support for HB1394. I supported it last year as well as this iteration. This bill is emblematic of the way the Commonwealth upholds itself to be. Virginia is one of the oldest states of this country with values including limited cruel and unusual punishments. This bill would be incredibly important to protecting some of our most vulnerable populations. Often times homeless shelters are full or not able to truly accommodate individuals/families with different needs, so sleeping outside are sometimes people's only options. To criminalize such behavior would be creating just that many more barriers for people to access housing and making their life even more challenging as it can cause legal barriers to qualifying for employment or housing as well as creating more financial burdens to them. That is why this bill is so important as it would best promote the safety and wellbeing of those who would be directly impacted by such arrests, tickets, and/or fines. Additionally, not only is it dangerous to punish homelessness, but it is also more expensive. According to VA Housing Alliance, it costs Virginia taxpayers $1060/day to keep someone in a psychiatric hospital and $145/day to keep someone in jail. This does not include the individual costs to those who are fined or arrested which research has shown as well leads to 5x more likelihood to experience chronic/long-term homelessness. I urge you today to support this bill and to support those directly and indirectly impacted by the right to rest.

Dear Members of the Virginia House of Delegates, My name is Jae Lange, and I am writing in strong support of HB 1394, the Right to Rest bill. I come to this issue not just as an advocate and non profit leader, but as someone with lived experience of homelessness. I know firsthand what it means to be punished or penalized for simply existing in public spaces when you have nowhere else to go. Sleeping, resting, sitting down, or trying to stay warm are not crimes; they are basic human needs. Yet across Virginia, people are still being ticketed, fined, or arrested for these survival behaviors. HB 1394 recognizes a simple truth: we cannot arrest our way out of homelessness. When people are criminalized for survival, it creates more barriers to stability; court fines, warrants, records, and trauma, all of which make it harder to secure housing, employment, and services. These policies do not make communities safer; they make people more vulnerable. There are not enough shelter beds in Virginia to meet the need. When people are forced to live outside because there is no other option, punishing them for that reality is both unjust and ineffective. This bill does not prevent localities from addressing real safety concerns. It simply ensures that people are not penalized for being unhoused while engaging in non-harmful, life-sustaining activities. Something happened recently that I would like to share. My last outreach event ended and as I was heading home I noticed a man with nothing on but a hospital gown, shivering, standing with his hospital gown open in the back exposing himself to the elements and the world. Thankfully I had the resources on hand to get him warm, to get him clothed and fed but I was unable to get him into shelter as it was already full. Had he been approached by law enforcement he would have received a public indecency charge on top of getting in trouble for simply having no place to go after receiving much needed health care. Where is the accountability to the agencies, hospitals, and businesses that don’t even do the bare minimum to help support our most vulnerable populations; but we want to incriminate those seeking support? And not the ones lacking to give it? This is why bills like HB 1394 are important. It’s laying the foundation to protect our human rights. HB 1394 is about dignity, fairness, and accountability. It challenges us to respond to homelessness with solutions instead of punishment, and with compassion instead of control. As a Commonwealth, we can; and we must, do better. I urge you to support HB 1394 and stand on the side of humanity, evidence-based policy, and basic human rights. Thank you for your time and consideration. In community , Jae Lange

My name is Dr. Alex Wagaman. I am a constituent from Richmond. I am a researcher and a social worker, and have been working to prevent and end youth homelessness in Virginia since 2014. Currently, I run the National Youth Homelessness Partnership. I am writing to urge you to support HB1394, which gives our unhoused neighbors the right to rest without fear of being arrested, ticketed or fined. Every Virginian deserves a safe place to sleep, yet too many of our neighbors are forced to live in their cars or on the streets because they have nowhere else to go. In the most recent Point-In-Time Count data released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Virginia counted (on a single night) over 7,000 people experiencing literal homelessness, yet we only have approximately 4,300 emergency shelter beds in the state. Many people who are unhoused in our state do not have an emergency housing option, even if they wanted to go to a shelter. In my experience working with youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, many youth are scared to go to shelters with adults. Unfortunately, only two communities in Virginia have youth-specific shelters. So instead, young people sleep in their car or outside until they can find a more stable place to live. Arresting, ticketing or fining these young people is not going to encourage them to seek services. It is also not going to help them get and keep stable housing. In fact, it will create more barriers to their ability to keep employment, secure housing and be contributing members of our Virginia communities. Research has shown that youth and young adults who have been involved with the criminal legal system are at much greater risk for long term homelessness or repeated experiences of homelessness. Arresting and incarcerating unhoused people is not the solution to homelessness. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars that will just exacerbate the problem. Please vote YES on HB1394.

Hello, Hello, My name is Kimberly Embe and I am a social worker and community member in the Richmond area, who has lived here for over a decade. I have deep appreciation for this city and the communities and supports it has allowed me to establish. However, over time I have been saddened and disturbed to see the ways in which  the city has begun to criminalize and persecute some of our most in need, underserved , and such valuable members. I myself, have years of  lived experience with houselessness and am so aware of the rates of possible return. I and so many other people across the country, and probably the room this is being read in  is only about one or so paychecks away from houselessness.  This is not just about individuals currently experiencing houselessness, because our experiences and current vulnerabilities are not that much different. This impacts all of us, housed or not. Instead of punishing one another, let's actually begin to do something to help. 

In 2024, over 7,000 people identified as unhoused Virginians. However, the year round emergency shelter beds available in that same time? Only 4,300. Housing policy is complicated- but arrests and tickets for chronically unhoused people cannot be our solution homelessness. I urge this committee to support HB1394 - while we all continue to work together on improving housing policy! Thank you.

NAACP, VSC support this bill 1394