City of Asheville provides temporary housing to people on Duke property encampment

Press release from the city of Asheville:

Working with community partners, the city of Asheville today provided 15 rooms for unsheltered people relocated from Duke Energy property near Isaac Dickson Elementary School. Those partners include Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, Homeward Bound and BeLoved, who did outreach to people in this encampment, helped them pack their belongings and transported them to a local hotel.

Provision of this temporary shelter is in response to safety issues that have arisen at encampments on public property and this Duke Energy property. Using federal funds anticipated from the American Rescue Plan, the City has been proactive in assisting people experiencing homelessness in this and other encampments by identifying temporary housing for these unsheltered populations. These include people at encampments at Aston Park, Riverbend Park and under the I-240 bridge on Lexington Avenue.

Encampments will not be allowed to return or resume in these areas. City ordinance prohibits camping on City property  (Art. III of Chapter 12, Sec. 12-51). While the City has been aligned with CDC guidance, regarding unsheltered populations during the pandemic, issues that have arisen in these encampments pose safety issues to people in these encampments and our larger community.

Now that the City has addressed relocation of people in these established encampments, staff will turn their focus to assisting partner agencies with their efforts to secure permanent housing placements for homeless individuals and families. The City asks that rental property owners open their housing units to people exiting homeless with rental assistance and supportive services whose most critical need is simply a safe place to call home.

The City of Asheville’s north star remains on ending homelessness through more permanent supportive housing with new additional federal resources available to people exiting homelessness coming later this summer through the American Rescue Plan. 

For more information on how to become a participating rental housing provider, please contact City Homelessness Lead Brian Huskey at bhuskey@ashevillenc.gov. If you or someone you know is currently experiencing homelessness, call 211 for available resources. For additional resources, please find the City’s Homeless Resource Guide here and our Affordable Housing Resource Guide in English here and Spanish here.

The City of Asheville supports a housing-first model to address homelessness in our community. For information visit  City of Asheville Homelessness Initiative webpage.