Stability, Health, and Opportunity in Virginia Beach
I love my job. I love this city.
I just didn’t know how long
I could afford to stay.
– Virginia Beach healthcare worker
A Place to Live.
A Place to Belong.
A Place to Build a Future.
They teach our children. Care for our families. Serve our communities. Keep our businesses running. And make Virginia Beach the place we are proud to call home.
But too many of the people who make our community work are struggling to afford to live here.
For teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, hospitality employees and other members of our local workforce, the growing gap between income and housing costs raises a difficult question:
Can I afford to stay in the community I call home?
Building Hope Together is about changing that answer.
VBCDC and NAMI Coastal Virginia are joining forces to create an inclusive community where people of different backgrounds, abilities and life experiences can find a quality home they can afford—and the stability to build the life they want.
Because a home isn't simply where life happens.
Home is where possibility begins.
Potential Tenant: A teacher who loves working in Virginia Beach but is struggling to find an affordable apartment near the school where she teaches. Building Hope Together could allow her to remain in the community she serves while achieving greater financial stability.
The Vision: A Community Where Everyone Belongs
Imagine a community where the teacher who greets your child every morning can afford to live near the school where she teaches. Where a young family can put down roots. And where a neighbor living with a mental health diagnosis has both a home and access to the support needed to thrive.
That's the vision behind Building Hope Together.
On 3.18 acres in Virginia Beach, we plan to create a vibrant, inclusive community featuring:
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Attainable homes for Virginia Beach's workforce. Rents will be accessible to teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, hospitality employees, essential workers and others whose work keeps our community strong.
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Up to 60 thoughtfully designed homes. Fifteen percent will be Permanent Supportive Housing for individuals and families living with a mental health diagnosis—integrating supportive housing into a diverse residential community.
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Homes designed for living well. Universal design, green-building standards, green space, and on-site resources will help create a welcoming environment where residents can live independently and successfully.
With transportation, grocery stores, schools, medical care, retail and employment opportunities nearby, residents will also have greater access to the things that make a full life possible.
This isn't housing for one group of people. It's a community built for the community.
It’s hard to get better
when you don’t know
where you’re sleeping.
– Feasibility study participant
Potential Tenant: A healthcare worker who works full-time caring for local residents but has seen housing costs increase faster than his income. An affordable home could allow him to live closer to work, reduce household expenses, and begin saving for the future.
More Than Housing: Building a Stronger Community
A stable home changes things.
It gives a family room to breathe. It gives a worker the ability to focus on the job instead of worrying about next month's rent. It gives people the foundation to plan, grow and move forward.
And the benefits extend beyond the front door.
When the people who work in Virginia Beach can also afford to live here, employers have a stronger workforce, families have greater stability and neighborhoods become stronger.
Building Hope Together will also become the new home of NAMI Coastal Virginia—a permanent headquarters for support, education and connection for individuals and families affected by mental illness.
Attainable workforce housing. Permanent supportive housing. Mental health resources. One inclusive community.
Together.
Because strong communities are built by creating places where everyone has the opportunity to belong and thrive.
Potential Tenant: A hospitality employee who helps support Virginia Beach’s tourism economy but has difficulty finding quality housing within her budget. Building Hope Together could provide greater stability while allowing her to live in the community where she works.
A Community Resource for Virginia Beach
Building Hope Together will also become the home of NAMI Coastal Virginia, creating a permanent location for an important community organization dedicated to education, support, awareness, advocacy, and connection around mental health.
NAMI’s presence will add another dimension to the vision for Building Hope Together. The site will not only provide quality, attainable homes but will also include a community-based organization that serves individuals and families throughout Virginia Beach and the broader region.
By bringing attainable housing and a respected community resource together in one inclusive setting, Building Hope Together demonstrates what is possible when we think about community development holistically, creating places that strengthen connections, expand access to resources, and foster a greater sense of belonging.
Why Now? Why Us?
For more than 40 years, VBCDC has helped people find more than housing. We've helped people find stability, independence and opportunity.
Today, the people our community depends on increasingly struggle to find homes they can afford. At the same time, some of our most vulnerable neighbors need both housing and support to live independently and successfully.
Building Hope Together gives us an opportunity to address both.
But we cannot do it alone.
This $6 million philanthropic campaign will help turn the vision into a real community filled with real people, real families and real possibilities.
Together, we can build more than homes.
We can build stability.
We can build opportunity.
We can build belonging.
Together, we can build hope.
When people are housed,
everything else becomes possible.
– Community partner
Build Hope With Us
Everyone deserves the opportunity to live in a safe, quality home they can afford.
Your gift to Building Hope Together will help create an inclusive Virginia Beach community where members of our workforce, families and neighbors who need additional support can all find a place to call home.
Every gift brings us one step closer.
Help us build the homes.
Help us build the community.
Help us Build Hope Together.
Make a donation
Please support our effort to create attainable housing for the workforce community in Virginia Beach.
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