From Staff Reports

The Asheville-Buncombe County Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee on Feb. 9 unanimously adopted the “north star” goal — an option suggested in its new homelessness report — in a move aiming to reduce unsheltered homelessness by 50 percent in two years.

The vote marked the panel’s first formal steps after recently receiving its $73,000 homelessness report from a consultant. The report featured dozens of recommendations that aim to end unsheltered homelessness in Asheville and Buncombe.

“The committee serves as the leadership board for the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care, a federal framework that coordinates homeless services and prevention within communities,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported. “It’s comprised of 16 members, with eight seats appointed by City Council and eight seats appointed by county commissioners. It’s also one of the first structures the Alliance is calling to fix.

“Also at the meeting, the committee adopted eight community values, which were identified through the Alliance’s stakeholder engagement.

“There was discussion about tweaks or inclusion of others, specifically related to equity and quality of data and services, which chair David Nash, CEO of the Asheville Housing Authority, said would be revisited at their next meeting March 9.

“The 2022 point in time count found homelessness numbers were up 21 percent total, with the unsheltered count doubled, from 116 in 2021 to 232. 

It was the highest count since at least 2010, according to the city’s dashboard,” the ACT noted. “The latest count was held Jan. 31, though data won’t be available until the spring.”

In other action, the committee voted to establish four work groups that have been assigned to probe a number of the key recommendations earmarked for prioritization. 

The groups were formed in direct response to the Alliance’s most pressing recommendations.