Looking Homeward The Asheville-Buncombe County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness... and beyond

Point in Time Counts

Preliminary Strategies Chronic Homelessness Pathways to Permanent Housing Program begins in 2006 Site-based supportive housing Partnerships between Homeward Bound, the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, and Mountain Housing.

: Switch to Scattered-site Housing Mental Health Initiative: State-funded pilot project HOME – Tenant-Based Rental Assistance funding HUD-Continuum of Care funding United Way Community Funds

The Great Recession: End of Mental Health Initiative dollars American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants Introduction of the Rapid Rehousing model Beginning of HUD – Veteran’s Affairs Supportive Housing program

Partnership with the Housing Authority The Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee creates a subcommittee to explore new ways to reduce chronically homeless numbers. The subcommittee consists of key organizations: The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville Homeward Bound Buncombe County City of Asheville Western Highlands Local Management Entity

Partnership with the Housing Authority HACA creates priority for chronically homeless individuals in public housing and Section 8 programs Homeward Bound restructures housing case management staff to pilot program taking advantage of priority First client moves into public housing unit one month later Western Highlands and Buncombe County allocate funding for CM.

Housing Authority Partnership: 4 Years Later Chronic Homeless Housing Project has moved in 160 individuals with a housing retention rate of 92% Homeward Bound receives a SAMHSA grant to place chronically homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders into public housing Since 2011, Project Rebound has moved another 104 individuals into HACA with a 94% retention rate

Changeover from ARRA Funds ARRA funds end in October 2011 Community replaces 50% of funding with other sources: United Way of Asheville-Buncombe County HOME Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Funding Emergency Solutions Grant

Point in Time 2014 Conducted in January total homeless individuals 47 chronically homeless individuals 226 homeless veterans

Buncombe County’s Challenges Large Veteran’s Affairs Per Diem program All homeless service agencies still not on-board with Housing First Lack of affordable housing units Changeover from program to system approach to ending homelessness

Next Steps Implementation of Coordinated Assessment System Creation of New Veteran’s Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families Priority 1 Program Ending Chronically Homelessness in the next 2 years

Oak Hill Commons Targets the “Hard to House” population Estimated cost to the community (30 identified individuals) for this population on the streets equals $2,300, Part of 75 unit mix-use affordable housing complex 38 affordable units with priorities for social workers, law enforcement and teachers 14 units for residents with vouchers (HUD-VASH, Section 8) 24 “hard-to-house” 1 bedroom units.

Oak Hill Commons Funded through community collaboration Private investment Bank loan funding City of Asheville Trust Fund HOME Development funds Buncombe County funding 24 units specifically attuned to needs of “hard-to-house” 24 hour security Medical services on-site weekly On-site behavioral health services (such as ACTT) weekly Case management services through Homeward Bound with 2 dedicated case managers

Contact Information Brian K. Alexander Executive Director Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina, Inc. (828) ext. 109