President Donald Trump’s crackdown on homeless encampments in D.C. comes during a period of increasing need for homelessness resources in Arlington.
The number of people without homes in Arlington has been steadily rising for the past four years — growing from a 10-year low of 171 in 2021 to 271 as of this January. Those numbers come hand-in-hand with increased demands on a local network of related services, including emergency housing.
Diana Ortiz, president of the domestic violence responder Doorways, is hedging her bets on what the news in D.C. will mean for the region. She’s waiting to see whether federal law enforcement’s attempts to force unhoused people from the District’s public spaces — bulldozing their encampments, disposing of their belongings and telling them to go elsewhere — will result in further strain on Arlington resources.
“It’s too soon to know the full impact of recent events in D.C. for survivors and for our shelter and crisis services,” said Ortiz, whose nonprofit provided emergency housing to a record number of domestic violence survivors last year. “What we do know is that our hotline continues to receive a steady, and rising, number of calls from both inside and outside Arlington.”
“John A.,” an unhoused man in Crystal City, questioned how current resources in Arlington will hold up if more people come to the county seeking shelter. He said that the clear-outs put his peers across the Potomac into difficult situations — and have left him with a sense of looming pressure.
“I know that they’re like, ‘OK, we’ll put them in housing,’ or ‘We’ll put them in, you know, the shelters and stuff,'” he told ARLnow. “There’s no way they have enough room, you know. I mean, the shelters [are] already crowded, ridiculous.”
So far, the Trump administration’s attempted policing “takeover” has focused on D.C., where the federal government wields a unique amount of authority over law enforcement.
However, the U.S. Park Police have “primary jurisdiction” over federal parks in Arlington, county spokesperson Ryan Hudson told ARLnow. This includes the Mount Vernon Trail, which, as of Friday, was home to at least one encampment with three tents. Park Police did not respond to a request for comment.
Regardless of any actions at the federal level, Hudson underscored Arlington County’s commitment to reducing homelessness through a “continuum of care” that prioritizes outreach, behavioral health services and affordable and sustainable housing.
“Arlington County is aware of the recent executive order and federal actions related to Washington, DC,” Hudson said. “The County is monitoring what impacts, if any, they may have on County programs and operations.”
Increasing homelessness in Arlington
Homelessness is on the rise in Arlington, although it has been worse.
The number of people experiencing homelessness has climbed every year since 2021, according to county data. Of Arlington’s 271 unhoused people this year, the vast majority — 234 — were “sheltered,” meaning they resided in places like emergency shelters, safe havens or transitional housing.
Only 23 people were experiencing “chronic homeless,” which generally means they had been homeless for at least 12 months, or on at least four separate occasions in the last three years.
Some factors that contribute to homelessness have also been on the rise.
Doorways, for instance, has been facing a surging need for services over the past several years. The nonprofit’s safehousing program for people fleeing domestic and sexual violence sheltered a record 70 households in 2024 — a number that has more than doubled from 32 in 2018, according to Doorways’ latest annual report.
Meanwhile, sessions offered through Doorways’ children’s services increased 63% to 1,053, while the organization’s HomeStart housing program supported 65 households, a 27% increase from 2023.
“We are working with partners across jurisdictions to make sure every survivor fleeing abuse has a safe place to sleep,” Ortiz said.
Since Trump took office, social services in Arlington have been bracing for greater need across the board. The county’s current budget sets aside a record $205 million for the Department of Human Services, which supports a wide range of programs ranging from psychiatric and behavioral health care to housing assistance and employment services.
With food insecurity and housing costs already on the rise in Arlington, officials, health-care workers and nonprofits have forecast dark times ahead following the approval of a federal spending bill with sweeping cuts to health care and food assistance programs.
Still, homelessness has historically been an even bigger issue in Arlington.
Although the county’s homelessness numbers are the highest they’ve been in at least a decade, they’re not at an all-time high. Back in 2012, for instance, the county’s yearly “point-in-time” count recorded 451 people without homes.
Across the D.C. area, rates of homelessness fell by about 1% last year, according to the latest data from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. A total of 9,659 people were included in this year’s point-in time count, a decrease of 115 people compared to 2024.
John’s story
John, 56, said he became homeless in 2023 after worsening illnesses culminated in him losing his job as a stonemason. He has been on a waitlist for affordable housing in Alexandria ever since.
John currently lives under an overpass in Crystal City with two other people, and the D.C. encampment clear-outs are a threat they are taking seriously.
“All of a sudden, [officers] come and say, ‘you’re going [to a shelter], or you’re going to jail’ — I’m pretty sure it’s coming this way,” John said.
John previously lived at PathForward, an Arlington homeless shelter, but told ARLnow he feels safest at his current location, where he displays artwork and accepts cash and donations.
“Besides the police station and your own home, it’s probably one of the safest places in Arlington,” he added. “We don’t bother anybody, don’t panhandle under there, you know, no drugs underneath there. That’s one of the rules.”
Trump has described his actions in D.C. as an attempt to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.” John recognizes the value of addressing crime and public safety concerns, but he challenged stereotypes that cast unhoused people as dangerous or unstable.
“I’m not crazy,” John said. “I got sick, didn’t have savings, and had no place to go.”
He added that homelessness comes with challenges that many passersby may not see or understand.
“People think ‘homeless,’ they’re like, ‘oh, drug addicts, alcoholics’ — a lot of people do,” he said. “It’s hard. It’s not easy at all, by no means. A lot of times, you don’t know when you’re going to eat. That’s like me: I eat once a day. Sometimes, I don’t get that.”
John expressed doubt that the region’s homeless shelters can accommodate more people. He described an experience this past winter when, in an attempt to find housing to avoid hypothermia, he said he was turned away at a shelter in Arlington.
“It sucks, it really does,” John said. “It sucks that there’s that many people living on the street, and some of them won’t go to a shelter. They just won’t.”
Arlington shelter Bridges to Independence did not respond to requests for comment. PathForward deferred to the Arlington County statement.
Ongoing support for homelessness
The Trump administration has presented its raids on homeless encampments as part of a package of efforts to improve public safety in D.C.
“We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” the president posted on social media last week, shortly before hosting a press conference on his “takeover” of D.C. policing.
Asked where unhoused people would be relocated, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said local police and federal agencies would “enforce the laws that are already on the books,” which, she said, “have been completely ignored.”
Citing a city regulation that she said gives local police “the authority to take action when it comes to homeless encampments,” Leavitt said homeless people “will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services.” Those who refuse “will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”
In the past five months, U.S. Park Police have removed about 70 homeless encampments, giving the people living in them the same options, she said.
In contrast to this approach, Arlington County’s continuum of care emphasizes ways “to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring” through various social programs.
For instance, Hudson mentioned street outreach services through partnerships between PathForward and the county’s Behavioral Health Division. He also noted the county’s Mobile Outreach Support Team, which responds to people experiencing mental health emergencies and connects them to “appropriate supports.”
“Arlington’s Continuum of Care prides itself on deploying person-centered, humanistic responses to homelessness and behavioral health care,” he said. “The CoC’s work is driven by a community-developed strategic plan that focuses on affordable housing, homeless prevention, and supporting people in connecting to community resources and employment.”
The Rosslyn BID, which also partners with PathForward on outreach, takes a similar approach, the organization’s President Mary-Claire Burick told ARLnow.
While we are always mindful of current news surrounding D.C. and Arlington, the Rosslyn BID has long maintained a proactive, holistic approach to ensuring a clean, safe, and welcoming neighborhood. This integrated public safety strategy ensures we have the right services in place to not only deter potential issues and address safety concerns before they escalate but also to provide outreach, resources, and assistance to individuals experiencing homelessness—ranging from our Ambassadors and Safety Rangers to our partnership with PathForward, an Arlington-based homeless services organization.
Our efforts have led to meaningful success stories, from helping a young man experiencing homelessness reunite with his family in Michigan, to supporting a long-time Rosslyn resident in achieving sobriety and enrolling in college courses.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
