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Continuum of Care update: Code Purple sites expanded, HUD funding shifts pose service risk
Summary
COC staff told commissioners the county's Code Purple/winter-shelter plan has $303,000 in funding with county and city matches, new nightly winter-shelter sites are in operation, and HUD's new CoC notice will cap permanent-housing renewals and add program design requirements that may affect roughly 102 households currently in permanent supportive housing.
County Continuum of Care staff briefed commissioners on winter shelter operations and sweeping federal changes to CoC funding priorities that could reduce funding available for permanent supportive housing in the Buncombe CoC.
COC staff (a county employee serving on the Just Home advisory committee) said the Code Purple program this year had $303,000 in available funding and that Buncombe County and the City of Asheville each contributed $50,000. Staff described multiple Code Purple sites: ABCCM's Transformation Village (35 beds for women and women with children), the Salvation Army (16 beds for men at Haywood Street/Haywood Street Respite historically), and a new 20-bed site for couples and people with pets. An operations coordinator role was added to help match people to the appropriate site and to support nightly winter shelter locations.
On nightly winter shelter, the Salvation Army's New Lester site is operating a 40-bed program for men that quickly reached capacity; Safe Shelter is operating additional beds for women at 27 Balm Grove and at the Lester Highway site. Staff said many providers are cost-sharing operations and that ARPA funding supported recent shelter expansions.
The presenter flagged a major federal change: HUD's new CoC notice shifts funding priorities toward transitional housing with specified program design requirements and places a cap on funding for permanent housing renewals at 30% of annual renewal demand. "The preliminary report is that there are 102 households in permanent supportive housing who could be affected," staff said; they also estimated up to 20 households could lose access to rapid rehousing under new caps. Staff said the CoC and a small group of board members are analyzing impacts and brainstorming strategies.
Commissioners asked whether the state provided feedback on rapid unsheltered survivor housing (RUSH) applications; staff said the CoC did not receive formal feedback yet but noted Salvation Army and Safe Shelter received portions of state emergency funding.
Next steps: COC staff will continue to work with shelter providers to troubleshoot operational funding through 2026 and will report back to the board; commissioners asked the COC and county staff to provide analysis of potential programmatic adjustments to mitigate the HUD-driven funding shift.
