Continuum of Care presents homelessness snapshot as council weighs prevention funding

Emily Ball, speaking for the Continuum of Care (COC), told Asheville City Council on April 28 that the COC’s 2026 point-in-time count, conducted Feb. 10, recorded 824 people experiencing homelessness and involved 137 volunteers. "This year's count occurred February 10th, and we had 137 volunteers who participated," Ball said. She cautioned the count is a snapshot and not a full census of need.

Ball and staff identified lack of affordable housing as the primary community driver of homelessness and said personal factors like addiction or mental illness are typically precipitating, not causal, at the community level. The presentation noted that increased shelter inventory after the storm referenced as Helen affected results; Ball said 16% of people counted reported Helen as a cause of their homelessness.

The COC described several early wins and system changes. Ball said the COC has a new memorandum of understanding with the housing authority to create admissions preferences for referrals from coordinated entry: pathways for project-based vouchers and tenant-based vouchers, including allocations aimed at people exiting homelessness and survivors of domestic violence. "All of this will be under COC infrastructure and oversight," Ball said, adding that households who enter housing through this pathway will receive 12 months of housing case management.

Councilmembers pressed staff on the point-in-time methodology — several noted the count did not fall on a 'code purple' night when emergency shelter capacity is expanded, and asked whether the count therefore understates need. Ball acknowledged that absence of code purple shelter beds on that night likely raised the unsheltered total and said the COC is exploring additional data sources and improved, ongoing public reporting.

Ball also outlined the community’s inclusion in the Right at Home prevention pilot, a national initiative that will bring a minimum of $5 million in private funding to serve at least 1,000 households over three years to test homelessness-prevention interventions. Ball described a research partnership and an expected RFP for local service providers; implementation was described as likely beginning in the fall.

Council and members of the public also pressed the COC about daytime services and stability for people in shelters who are required to leave each morning. Ball and others on the dais said shelter operators and the COC are discussing more equitable day-space models, and that expanding stable funding and capacity is necessary to sustain winter-shelter and code purple gains. Ball said the COC is working to develop baseline system-level data and public reporting "later this year."

What happens next: the COC will continue to refine its data systems, pursue implementation and RFP steps for the Right at Home pilot, and work with council and partner agencies on funding strategies for FY2027.