United Way representative says homelessness initiative advancing; council urges county participation and funding clarity

Jenny Moore, a United Way staff member working on the homelessness initiative, told the Rocky Mount City Council Committee of the Whole that the project team has had preliminary meetings with Nash County leaders and scheduled a meeting with Edgecombe County leaders on May 7 to present a regional approach and seek broader participation.

"I think from our perspective, just the urgency of what we're seeing in our community around homelessness is big," Moore said, describing the rationale for moving forward with a tiered plan. Moore told council members that the initiative's organizers had not yet set firm county-level asks but that initial planning included a multi-tier approach: a near-term planning tier (staff described $250,000 as an initial planning estimate for a first prong), larger development phases requiring outside funding, and ongoing coalition-building with hospitals and shelters. Moore said she has discussed coordination with local hospital leadership and identified Tarboro-area shelter operators as partners to engage more directly.

Multiple council members said they support a regional approach but urged more active, near-term commitments from Nash and Edgecombe counties. One council member said the counties must "step up" because county budgets and social-service roles make them central partners. Another council member noted the city's existing charitable spending and questioned whether Rocky Mount taking a lead role would reduce pressure on other jurisdictions to provide resources.

Council members pressed for clarity on the financial ask: staff and the presenter said the city had not finalized a county-specific request and that the $500,000 figure discussed at retreat-level conversations was not the full amount required to execute later phases. Moore said preliminary conversations with Nash County produced constructive responses and that the May 7 meeting with Edgecombe County leaders is intended to advance calendar and ask planning.

No formal action or vote occurred at the workshop. Council members asked staff to continue building the multi-jurisdiction coalition and to return with specific proposals and proposed county-level commitments before the council approves any significant financial allocation.