COC reports 824 people counted in point‑in‑time; Buncombe County part of $5M 'Right at Home' homelessness‑prevention pilot

Lacy Hoy, the county’s Continuum of Care (COC) representative, told the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners the HUD‑defined point‑in‑time (PIT) count was conducted Feb. 10–11 after being delayed for winter storms and involved 137 volunteers. Preliminary results show 824 people in 733 households countywide.

Hoy cautioned that the emergency‑shelter number was likely understated because Code Purple beds were not activated the night of the count; she said roughly 95 Code Purple beds that might otherwise have been available were offline. Transitional‑housing counts rose after the Veterans Restoration Quarters began bringing capacity back online and because Covenant Village, an RV community in Fairview for families displaced by Tropical Storm Helen, was included in this year’s count.

The point‑in‑time data show a slight increase in unsheltered people and continuing racial disparities: Hoy said African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latinx populations remain disproportionately represented relative to their shares in the American Community Survey. She also flagged a rise in younger people: the count showed an uptick among people under 18 (all accompanied youth) and in the 18–24 age group.

Emily Ball, representing the city as the COC lead agency, described system changes and next steps. The COC has restructured governance and adopted a three‑year strategic plan that emphasizes lowering unsheltered homelessness, increasing exits to permanent housing, and strengthening prevention and system capacity. Ball said a coordinated‑entry redesign is underway; a new local assessment tool will enter testing this month to better prioritize referrals.

Ball and Hoy outlined several operational and funding advances: a West Asheville Street Engagement outreach partnership, an MOU with the housing authority to create admissions preferences and dedicated project‑based and tenant‑based voucher pathways for COC referrals, and an active collaborative fund‑development effort to sustain shelter capacity.

Most prominently, Ball said the region was selected as one of 10 pilot communities for the national Right at Home homelessness‑prevention initiative and will receive at least $5 million to implement a three‑year prevention program targeting up to 1,000 households. Ball described the model as rooted in evidence from Santa Clara County and said the county’s existing COC structure was essential to eligibility and program management.

Board members asked about verification of youth counts, coordination with storm recovery and long‑term recovery groups, and how the Covenant Village counts were being tracked. Hoy and Ball said the PIT data are self‑reported and cannot be individually verified through the count; they described ongoing coordination with disaster recovery and long‑term recovery partners and said Covenant Village contributed 43 people in 37 households to the family totals.

The presenters emphasized that while some operational improvements (e.g., a single operations coordinator phone line for Code Purple sites and better app‑based communication among providers) helped this winter, the community lacks sufficient ongoing shelter capacity and stable operating funding. They asked the board to continue supporting facility, staffing and funding solutions while the COC completes planning and the Right at Home implementation design.

Next steps: the COC will finish testing the assessment tool, finalize the housing‑authority admissions preference operational details, continue Code Purple debriefing and planning, and bring more implementation specifics on Right at Home and coordinated entry to the board later this year.