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Wake County establishes Continuum of Care department; proposes broader 'white flag' cold‑weather shelter threshold
Summary
Wake County has formalized a Continuum of Care department and is building staff and committees to manage HUD funding, HMIS data and coordinated entry; the county is drafting a White Flag severe‑weather plan that would expand the cold‑weather shelter threshold to include colder, wet nights and is coordinating logistics with local shelter operators.
Eileen (lead, Continuum of Care department) updated the committee on the CoC transition to county leadership, internal staffing and near‑term system priorities, and she presented progress on the county’s annual White Flag severe‑weather shelter response plan.
As of July 1 the CoC lead agency function is consolidated within Wake County; staff said the FY26 budget funded 11 CoC positions, nine of which are new, and that the department is recruiting for remaining roles including a data analyst and a department business officer. Eileen told commissioners the CoC department’s core responsibilities — per the county’s MOU with the CoC governance board — include serving as the collaborative applicant for HUD funding, overseeing the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and operating the coordinated entry system that assesses and prioritizes households for available housing resources.
Eileen outlined recent grant competition work: the CoC ran a local competition for the NC ESG fair share (roughly $433,000) and submitted nine projects for the funding; staff are also preparing for the annual HUD CoC NOFO (renewal demand approximately $6.1 million) and watching for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project opportunity. Eileen said federal NOFO timing and program changes required close monitoring and that staff are coordinating with HUD technical assistance resources.
The CoC has refreshed committee structure and membership: staff are launching a lived‑experience committee and a youth advisory board, elevated the street outreach group to full committee status, and renamed a racial equity committee to a Fair Housing Advisory Committee to align with federal expectations. Eileen said the lived‑experience committee will include people currently or recently experiencing homelessness, those historically housed, and frontline staff; the committee will provide direct design input and staff plan to provide modest meeting compensation.
White flag: Eileen told the committee the Homeless Emergency Response Committee (HERC) is drafting the county’s White Flag response plan, which governs activation of expanded shelter capacity for severe weather. Based on community input, staff proposed expanding the alert threshold to include nights at or below 40°F with precipitation (in addition to nights at or below 35°F). The committee estimated the expanded threshold could add about eight to 10 alerts in a season; last season had about 71 alerts. Staff named St. John’s/Bridal Center (pastor Vance Haywood) as the planned shelter operator to lead activation this season.
Eileen and commissioners said the county will finalize procedures for transportation, pet and weapons policies, and daytime warming centers for families. She said the CoC hopes to present the White Flag response plan to the CoC governance board for approval on Oct. 2 and will continue coordinating with the City of Raleigh and local shelter partners.
Commissioners and staff praised the rapid build‑out. Commissioner Adamson said the county’s steps are “life and death” for residents who otherwise would remain unsheltered during winter. Staff indicated veterans are a priority subpopulation and that the county will pursue functional zero strategies for veterans through coordination with regional partners and Bridge to Home resources.
