Poverty in the United States is on track to rise to the highest it has been since the 1960s and a day shelter in Charlottesville is feeling the impact of this increase. The official poverty rate is expected to climb as high as 15.7 percent.
The Haven is a day shelter devoted to helping the homeless and poor. Staff members say they are seeing more families affected by poverty.
Haven staff member Eleis Lester said, "Service providers are really having to work together in order to meet folks needs because their needs are very complex and so, that has also been a change in terms of poverty here. It's much more complicated in the last few years as it has been in the past."
The Haven says foot traffic into the shelter has nearly doubled. When they opened, they planned to have 30 to 50 people coming through every day. Now, that number is up to at least 85 people a day.
