The Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless aims to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring in our community.
At BRACH, we work to reduce homelessness by initiating creative solutions and coordinating regional resources and services.
Vision
BRACH is working toward the day when everyone in our region has a decent, safe place to sleep at night.
History
BRACH was founded in 1998 and serves as the lead CoC agency for our region.
Objectives
BRACH aims to implement short and long-term collaborative strategies to alleviate homelessness in our community.
Community Plan
The Community Plan to End Homelessness is a three-year strategic plan to guide the broad system of care in responding to and reducing homelessness.
We lead and collaborate with local organizations in efforts to end homelessness.
We are the HUD-designated coordinator of the Continuum of Care for our community. We support system improvement and collaboration to ensure a secure safety net for the homeless and very poor. The Service Provider Council, a committee of BRACH’s Board of Directors, provides a forum in which providers share information and address concerns. Contact info@tjach.org for more information.
BRACH adopts the Housing First approach to homeless assistance. This strategy prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life.
The five tenets of “Housing First” are:
Housing
Immediate access to housing with no readiness conditions
Recover
Recovery orientation
Community
Social and community integration
Choice
Consumer choice and self-determination
Support
Individual and person-driven supports
Our Team
Anthony Haro
Anthony Haro is the Executive Director for BRACH, and his work is dedicated to making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our communities. He has been in his role with BRACH since 2017 and has 11 years of experience in HMIS administration and leading homeless service systems. Anthony believes that finding peace and contentment is everyone’s birthright and that a safe and stable home is integral to that process.
Sarah Moniz
Sarah Moniz originally joined BRACH as an AmeriCorps VISTA in 2021 and accepted a full-time position soon after, finding a sense of purpose and community in the work. Sarah believes that a safe and stable home is a human right, as well as the foundation for happiness and self-sufficiency. She is committed to the mission of reducing homelessness and increasing access to essential services, resources, and housing.
2022 Governance Board
Janette Kawachi (Chair)
Chief Partnership Officer
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville
Ed Bain (Treasurer)
Boyle, Bain, Reback, & Slayton
Community Member
Tom McQueeney
Community Member
Rebecca Schmidt
Population Health & Outreach Manager
Blue Ridge Health District
Misty Graves
Director, Dept. of Human Services
City of Charlottesville
Sam Spencer
Self-Sufficiency Unit Program Manager
Albemarle County
Sue Moffett (Local Government Rep.)
Director, Dept. of Social Services
City of Charlottesville
Mohan Nadkarni
Chief, Division of General, Geriatric, Palliative, & Hospital Medicine
UVa Health System
Claudette Greene
Director, Housing Management & Resident Services
Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority
Kaki Dimock
Director, Dept. of Social Services
Albemarle County
Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless 