Last year, a renter in Roanoke asked her landlord for a change. As her mobility declined, she found she needed a walk-in shower, and she offered to pay for the cost of having one installed. Her landlord refused.
As the winter holidays approached and cold weather grips the region, this renter — a client of ours named Debra — is now facing the loss of her home. It started with the shower, but a crisis quickly grew.
I’m the executive director of Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME of VA), the only statewide nonprofit fighting housing discrimination. That’s what Debra is confronting— and it’s why she can no longer count on having a safe, stable home.
Roanoke is grappling with homelessness. The Blue Ridge Continuum of Care reported a 12% increase in the city’s unhoused population this year, following a 54% increase between 2021 and 2023. The issue recurred in local campaign forums this fall. And in a recent essay for this publication, the Roanoke Regional Business Leadership Fund expressed “grave concerns about the future and viability of downtown Roanoke” if homelessness in the center city isn’t better addressed.
But housing instability isn’t only a measure of the awful reality that finds hundreds of our neighbors sleeping on city streets. Housing security stretches across a spectrum, from stable and thriving, at one end, to entirely without shelter, at the other. There are many points in between. Debra’s struggles highlight forces moving many of our neighbors toward the risky end of the range.
Most of us, as we age, will develop at least one disability. Loss of mobility along with difficulty hearing and seeing are among the most common. What you may not know is that state and federal housing laws protect renters with disabilities — including these familiar markers of aging— who seek reasonable modifications to their unit to ensure equal access. When Debra asked to replace her shower, she wasn’t looking for a favor. She was exercising her rights under multiple laws.
Debra’s landlord broke those laws when refusing to approve her request. Then, weeks later and without cause, he refused to renew her lease. Debra had lived in her apartment for years, always paying rent on time and never causing problems. The non-renewal felt like retaliation.
It also set up a new problem. Debra pays her lease with a Housing Choice Voucher — a coupon provided by the federal government and administered locally by the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority to subsidize rent for qualifying tenants. Debra suffered a brain injury in her early 20s; the impact has shaped her life. She has relied on her voucher for more than 40 years.
When the housing authority learned that Debra’s landlord would not renew her lease, they adjusted their books, halting future rent payments. But Debra was still living there. Fighting discrimination based on her disability, she remained. When her rent went unpaid on account of the housing authority’s stopped payments, the landlord threatened eviction.
At HOME of VA, we meet individuals every day whose lives are suddenly thrown into crisis because of housing discrimination. Last year alone, 45% of the discrimination complaints we received were related to disability. And because people with disabilities make up an outsized share of those living on fixed incomes, any new obstacle can spell disaster.
For Debra, as she struggled to search for housing with help from our office and two caseworkers in Roanoke, the limits of her housing voucher made opportunities few. She is permitted to seek a unit renting for no more than $1,090 per month. Could you rent a quality, safe, stable apartment in the Roanoke area at that rate for yourself or an aging parent? As Debra could tell you, it’s nearly impossible.
Roanoke’s newly elected mayor and members of city council have now taken office. The region’s delegates and senators have taken seats in Richmond as the General Assembly meets. Each has the power — the responsibility — to call for action that would make a crisis like Debra’s rare.
There is no agency in the Roanoke Valley tasked with investigating housing discrimination and enforcing fair housing laws. The city of Roanoke’s Fair Housing Board is an educational and outreach body; the Virginia Fair Housing Office, underfunded and understaffed, is the only public agency of recourse for local residents facing discrimination. HOME of VA works to fill this gap, uncovering and fighting housing discrimination statewide. But our resources are limited.
Meanwhile, paltry state funding for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority and its counterparts across Virginia forces difficult decisions for agency staff and renters alike. Only 0.76% of Virginia’s general fund budget supports housing assistance programs. Most funds for Virginia’s housing authorities come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which the incoming presidential administration has targeted for deep cuts to its budget and programs. Virginia’s leaders will need to fill these gaps.
Our team stays in close touch with Debra. Recently she told us about an ideal apartment, just out of the reach of her housing voucher’s limit. “But I can do it,” she told us. “I’ve done it before.” She’s determined to secure a quality, safe and stable home — just as we all desire and deserve.
But the path for Debra and many more individuals throughout the Roanoke Valley and across Virginia is not shaped only by self-determination. Poorly enforced housing laws and insufficient funding for housing programs imperil scores of our neighbors. As our elected leaders gear up for lawmaking in the weeks ahead, they could hardly do better than to work for equal access to housing opportunities for all.