ASHEVILLE - Buncombe County commissioners are considering a $3.6 million funding request to bring new beds to area homeless shelters, and to preserve existing beds at risk of disappearing.
The money could also mean a permanent space for Safe Shelter, a partnership between three area churches and Counterflow LLC, which for the last year has rotated its 20-bed shelter between the locations. Safe Shelter is eyeing the newly-emptied educational building at West Asheville's Trinity United Methodist Church on Haywood Road for a permanent, year-round home.
"It's kind of a dream come true," Christian Chambers, Safe Shelter director, told the Citizen Times. “There are so many families that we didn’t know were in the community that are houseless or needing help, and this way, we can put a dent in it."
The building on Trinity's campus was home to PEAK Academy , a charter school created to close the achievement gap between the city's Black and white students, opened in 2021. The school announced in August that it would relocate to the Arthur R. Edington Education and Career Center .
Commissioners heard the shelter recommendation Sept. 3. Between the three shelters — Safe Shelter, Haywood Street Respite and the Salvation Army — 18 new beds were proposed, but the funding would help to preserve dozens more.
Safe Shelter and Haywood Street's proposals were respondent to a July request for proposals issued by the newly restructured Continuum of Care, a collaborative, community-driven planning body that works to oversee a coordinated response to area homelessness. The RFP intended to secure more low-barrier shelter using $3.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding earmarked by the county for shelter last September.
Also last year, the city and county jointly funded 43 new shelter beds for 12 months, in the same three shelters, with $1.75 million in COVID relief funds. Those dollars run out in December.
Salvation Army's need was identified during the recent process, though it did not respond to the RFP, said Lacy Hoyle, the county's homelessness program manager and chair of the CoC's shelter planning work group.
Without additional funding, the Salvation Army has concerns around possible closure at the end of December, once the prior year's funding is spent, Hoyle said — putting 65 shelter beds at risk. The $980,897 funding request would fund the beds for another year.
Buncombe County Commission will vote on the funding requests Sept. 17.
What's the need?
Facing a referral list of 50-100 names, and with its current offerings at capacity, Chambers said more beds, plus a permanent space and extended daytime hours, would be a "huge" opportunity for the shelter. At the beginning of September, Safe Shelter moved back to Trinity, "where it all started," with the hopes of transitioning into the educational building if funding is secured.
The renovations are contingent on city rezoning and permitting requirements being met.
Trinity is no stranger to hosting shelter, having first served as an emergency winter shelter in November 2021 .
“There’s been a lot of talk of somewhere ... that people can go and just like do all of the applications in one place, get services that they need, so they don’t have to bounce around," Chambers said. "We’re really looking forward to becoming one of those places.”
The work to expand shelter bed capacity, specifically low-barrier offerings, is an answer to a January 2023 report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which recommended the CoC prioritize development of a plan to significantly increase temporary housing options for non-veteran single adults and families with children.
It called for an increase of 95 beds.
While that metric hasn't yet been met, Hoyle said, "it’s clear in community that there is still a real need for shelter beds and that’s why it’s important to make sure that we keep what we’ve got, while we also try to plan for how to continue to expand.”
There simply aren't enough accessible beds, she said.
“This is what we’re hearing that the folks who are experiencing homelessness want and need and we want to be able to figure that out for them,” she said.
While acknowledging complications around sustained operational costs, commissioners were largely supportive.
"The work that has happened since (the Alliance) met with us and (Asheville) City Council, if we can take a step back from it, is really considerable. We are in a really different place as a community then we were those two years ago when you're thinking about the provision of high-access service or low-barrier services in particular," said commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara.
"As recently as the last year, I would regularly hear stories about families with a single dad and kids living in their car because they were not eligible for any local shelter beds. Stories like that changed because of things like this."
How many beds are proposed?
Haywood Street Respite
- What's proposed: 13 new beds. Three preserved beds from the expansion last year, funded jointly by the city and county. Addition of a second floor and elevator to double the respite space at Haywood Street Congregation. If funding is approved, the shelter will have 25 total beds.
- Total request: $1.6 million
- $860,00 capital costs
- $614,284 for 12-months of operating costs
- CoC board recommendation: $1.6 million.
- Anticipated start date: July 2025.
- Population served: Adults in need of medical, behavioral health or substance use disorder respite.
Safe Shelter
- What's proposed: Five new beds, plus five additional overflow beds. 20 preserved beds. Improvements for the Trinity educational building, including a sprinkler system and showers. If funding is approved, the shelter will have 25 total beds or 30, if counting emergency overflow.
- Total request: $1.3 million.
- $450,000 capital costs
- $846,902 for 12-months of operating costs
- CoC board recommendation: $1 million
- Anticipated start date: September 2024.
- Population served: Adults, families with children (priority).
Salvation Army
- What's proposed: 20 preserved expansion beds and 45 preserved existing beds.
- Total request: $980,897.
- CoC board recommendation: $980,897.
- Anticipated start date: January 2025.
- Population served: Adults, families with children.
More: West Asheville church will host 20-bed homeless shelter during June
More: More low-barrier homeless shelter in Asheville? CoC issues request for proposals
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times .
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: $3.6M for Asheville shelter beds? Could mean permanent West Asheville homeless shelter
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