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Buncombe County updates Age‑Friendly action plan, schedules June 4 summit
Summary
Buncombe County officials say they're finalizing a revised Age‑Friendly Action Plan, will begin measuring provider performance and will host a second Age‑Friendly Summit on June 4, 2026. County staff said federal/state aging funds total about $1.7 million and that county supplemental funding is under review.
Buncombe County is finalizing an updated Age‑Friendly Action Plan and will begin measuring funded providers' performance, county staff said on a local radio program. Billy Breeding, Buncombe County's Age‑Friendly coordinator, announced the plan revision and details for the county's second Age‑friendly Summit.
“We're in the midst of finalizing the updated version'of the action plan,” Breeding said, adding that, historically, the county had not measured progress against earlier aging plans. “With this plan, we're gonna start measuring the progress…we're gonna establish a baseline and then go out from there in future years.”
The action plan, also called an aging plan, organizes work across the World Health Organization's eight domains of livability, officials said. Breeding said Buncombe County joined the AARP/WHO Age‑Friendly network in 2017 after the county's Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution.
Breeding said the county expects roughly $1,700,000 in combined federal and state funding (Home and Community Care Block Grant dollars) to support aging services this fiscal year. He described an additional Buncombe County supplemental aging fund that the county provides to address gaps not covered by federal categories but did not provide a definitive figure for the local supplement.
The county will host the Second Age‑Friendly Summit on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at the DoubleTree by Hilton (115 Hendersonville Road). The all‑day event, scheduled to run roughly 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will include sessions on healthy aging, brain health, accessing community and health care services, financial preparedness and safety. Breeding said Commissioner Chair Amanda Edwards will give opening remarks.
Breeding emphasized the local scale of aging: “We have 82,160 older adults age 60 and over that live in Buncombe County. That makes up 29% of our population,” he said. He added that not all older residents receive services yet many contribute through volunteerism, caregiving and local spending.
The action plan work is coordinated through a network of more than 100 nonprofits, businesses and older‑adult volunteers, Breeding said. He encouraged people interested in participating or learning which providers receive county funding to consult the county's aging services funding page or contact his office at (828) 767‑4376.
Why this matters: age‑friendly planning is intended to make communities more livable for older adults by aligning services, transportation, housing and civic engagement. County officials said adopting measurable targets will allow Buncombe to track progress and adjust funding and services over time.
The county webpage cited on the program for more aging‑services information (as spoken on air) was buncombenc.gov. More details about the summit, sessions and registration are expected on county event pages and partner sites in the weeks before June 4.
