Looking HomewardThe Asheville-Buncombe County 10-Year Plan to

End Homelessness. . . and beyond

Point in Time Counts 2005-2013

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Point In Time Count – Buncombe County

Total Homeless Chronically Homeless Veterans

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.

2007-2009: 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: 2008-2010

• 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 2014• 533 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 $2,300,000.00• 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 InformationBrian K. AlexanderExecutive Director

Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina, Inc.(828)258-1695 ext. 109

brian@homewardboundwnc.org