Press release from City of Asheville:
Code Purple is a longstanding initiative of local homeless service providers to add overflow emergency shelter beds during cold weather to ensure safety and survival for people experiencing homelessness. The Code Purple operational plan is collaboratively developed each year by participating service providers who each contribute to making this lifesaving capacity available.
This year’s Code Purple plan highlights are:
Code Purple season: October 15, 2023 – April 30, 2024
Code Purple providers: ABCCM (50 beds for single men at the Veterans Restoration Quarters, 25 beds for women or women with children at Transformation Village) and Salvation Army (16 beds for single men)
Code Purple will be called by the Homeless Coalition 48 hours in advance when the forecast on weather.gov predicts a temperature of 32 degrees or below or 33-40 degrees with precipitation.
ART will provide free transit to/from Code Purple sites. Community Paramedics and Community Responders are also able to assist with transportation for people unable to access transit.
The Homeless Coalition will notify the community of Code Purple alerts via their email distribution list. Anyone can be added to their distribution list by emailing bcnc.homeless.coalition@gmail.com.
ABCCM will host a phone line people can call to find out whether Code Purple is available: 828.398.6011.
Full operational details are available in this year’s Code Purple Manual.
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