Prevent Homelessness

The Prince William Area Continuum of Care (PWA CoC) offers interventions that are designed to prevent households from becoming homeless.  The Coordinated Entry System (CES) is a process developed to ensure that persons experiencing a housing crisis have equal access to services, they are quickly assessed and referred to housing or other needed assistance.

Prevention is an intervention used to assist households with retaining their current housing or relocate to another safe permanent housing option without experiencing homelessness. Persons who may be eligible include households that are in immediate danger of eviction, foreclosure. All referrals are made through the CES by calling (703) 792-3366 (TTY: 711).

Diversion is another strategy designed to prevent homelessness and concentrates efforts on finding immediate alternative housing options (i.e. family, friends, etc.). The focus is on minimizing the number of persons that enter emergency shelter and to identify ways to stabilize households. The CES team works diligently with households to find alternative housing options and/or identify other resources that could resolve their housing crisis quickly.

Homeless Shelters