Mobile Hope Responds to COVID-19s Impact On Homelessness

After the pandemic, many were left without jobs, homes and enough money to survive. This tragedy left and continues to leave many helpless, but organizations like Mobile Hope are here to heal the community.

Rachel Adams

Volunteering with nonprofits like Mobile Hope is a way to give back, especially to help community members get back on their feet in light of the pandemic.

Rachel Adams, Website Coordinator
March 1, 2022

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has caused over 70 million cases and 864,203 deaths in the United States alone. During quarantine, many offices, businesses, and companies closed, leaving  5.1% of Virginia unemployed. Nearly two years later, businesses have slowly reopened, but with safety precautions that include requiring proof of vaccination and masks in public places.

COVID-19 tore through the U.S. and left many in a rough spot. Due to the limited number of COVID-19 testing sites, the official number of confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 is a lot lower than the actual number. (Our World In Data, via Wikimedia Commons)

Due to unemployment, many Virginians are unable to  provide for their families or pay rent, resulting in mass home eviction filing across the country. In Richmond, VA alone, there were 4,862 home eviction filings. The large amount of eviction filings led to a temporary stop to residential evictions to prevent the spread of the virus. 

In an effort to help kids in need, Mobile Hope, a local nonprofit organization, is focused on helping to “provide support and emergency shelter to youth up to age 24 who are at-risk, precariously housed, or homeless.” They hold multiple food and clothing drives and accept money donations to help young adults to find jobs, homes, and ways to become self-sufficient.

Recently, Mobile Hope moved to a bigger location in downtown Leesburg and they are hoping to expand their program to include a boxing ring/gym, trade school, and a job-training center at their new facility. With the new space, Mobile Hope is in need of volunteers, as they are a “critical” part of the organization’s team, according to their website. In an effort to recruit new volunteers, Mobile Hope sends out emails to previous volunteers asking for their help again and for them to sign up for various events through SignUp Genius links found on their website.

Mobile Hope offers a wide variety of ways for volunteers to contribute to the effort, including working on their bus and working in the food pantry or Mobile Hope’s store. With the help of volunteers, Mobile Hope has been able to assist hundreds of kids get the materials they need to continue their education, get jobs, and have a better life overall. Each time the Mobile Hope bus comes by, “30-80 children will visit,” Donna Fortier (founder and executive director of Mobile Hope) said in an interview with the Washington Post. 

Mobile Hope is constantly looking for new volunteers and offers a variety of volunteering opportunities. The link to help their cause can be found here.