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Buncombe partners with Thrive Asheville on MacArthur-funded Just Home planning process
Summary
Thrive Asheville and county staff described a five-month, community-driven planning effort under the MacArthur Foundation's Just Home initiative to design housing solutions for people involved in the justice system; completion of the plan may unlock up to $5 million in capital funding.
Thrive Asheville and Buncombe County staff told the subcommittee on Oct. 8 that the county is participating in the MacArthur Foundation's Just Home initiative and is carrying out a rapid five-month planning process to design housing strategies for justice-involved people.
The county is one of nine communities selected for the national Just Home planning grant. Thrive Asheville is serving as a local partner to gather lived-experience input, run community outreach and help draft the county's application to MacArthur that could unlock up to $5,000,000 in capital and program support for housing for justice-involved residents.
Thrive Asheville's work and timeline
Kate Pet, program director at Thrive Asheville, said the county and Thrive launched work in September and shortened the process at MacArthur's request from an 18-month planning timeline to a five-month rapid planning period. Thrive said it has formed a community advisory committee, released a survey and planned more than 20 discussions with groups representing the target populations.
Crystal Perez, program manager at Thrive Asheville, said the outreach aims to gather at least 400 unique voices across four target groups: people currently or formerly incarcerated, their families, service providers and community members. The engagement will ask respondents about unit needs, housing types, affordability and what supportive services are required for stable post-release housing.
What participants told planners so far
Thrive staff reported early qualitative findings from interviews with people inside local detention facilities and from Transformation Village: many returning residents named local nonprofit providers'ABCCM, Operation Gateway and Sunrise'as critical sources of services. Respondents emphasized the importance of integrated sobriety supports, trauma-informed mental health services and navigation assistance to help people obtain housing and benefits immediately upon release.
How the county will use the plan
Thrive said the final county plan will be drafted in November, posted for community review in December and submitted to the MacArthur Foundation; if MacArthur selects a project, the award could include up to $5 million in capital and program funds. County staff present at the meeting identified Sybil Tate and Max Hehner as the county's MacArthur contacts.
The subcommittee members asked how the county could boost the proposal's competitiveness; Thrive encouraged broad community participation in the survey and local outreach.
