Vision for The Sanctuary Project
Shelby Hamilton
8/26/19261 min read
Every night in Roanoke, people are turned away from shelter, not because they don't want help, but because they don't fit a narrow set of criteria. A veteran who's already used their VA benefits. A mother who won't leave her children behind at a facility that doesn't allow families. A woman who won't abandon her dog to escape an abuser. Someone leaving incarceration with no address to put on a job application.
The Sanctuary Project exists to close that gap. We are a transitional housing program built on a simple idea: homelessness itself is the qualifier — not which category of hardship brought someone to our door. We serve veterans, survivors of domestic violence and their pets, people leaving incarceration, single parents, and individuals leaving recovery who have nowhere else to turn.
This isn't an idea born in a boardroom. Our board is made up of people who have lived this experience themselves — who have walked through homelessness, addiction recovery, and the process of rebuilding a life from nothing, alongside members with direct professional experience running similar residential programs. That lived and professional experience shapes everything about how we serve our residents. For the past two years, our team has built this organization from the ground up — securing our 501(c)3 status, state certification, and a committed partner ready to provide housing. We now have real properties ready to open, including a large property that could eventually serve well over a hundred residents.