Twin County coalition urges $1 million for permanent supportive housing, asks council to fund navigation program

A United Way‑convened Twin County Homeless Coalition presented council members with local homelessness data, personal accounts from people who experienced housing instability and a set of funding recommendations intended to create a local plan, navigation services and permanent supportive housing.

Ginny Morbutter, executive director of United Way Tar River Region, opened the presentation and said the coalition is "a group of dedicated, focused, and community‑driven leaders" seeking to lay out recommendations for the Twin County area. The group brought three people with lived experience to the meeting: a parent enrolled in the school‑linked program, a Bassett Center resident and a Rocky Mount police officer; those speakers described short‑term shelter stays, unpaid bills and hardship tied to job loss and bereavement.

Why it matters: presenters said the local data and personal testimony show rising need for both short‑term shelter and longer‑term, supportive housing. The coalition urged the city to help sustain planning and start a homelessness navigation program and a permanent supportive housing initiative that the group argues will reduce emergency service costs…