“Running into folks who were at Trinity Place when they were children — and who now are healthy, empowered adults — is inspiring.”
Tag: homelessness
Showing 64-84 of 151 results
Formerly homeless residents discuss path toward self-sufficiency
To move clients from reliance on shelters and services to self-sufficiency, homeless advocates say, community support and permanent affordable housing are key — and their lack is the main barrier to reducing the homeless population in Asheville.
Letter: Homeward Bound’s approach to homelessness shows results
“One of our clients who was the most arrested person in Asheville prior to engaging with us at Woodfin now has an 83% decrease in law enforcement interaction.”
Business in brief: A-B Tech announces credentialing program with ABCCM
“ABCCM knows that people who are houseless or experiencing homelessness are smart, motivated and often courageous persons who want the skills that lead to careers,” the Rev. Scott Rogers, the nonprofit’s executive director, wrote in a statement to Xpress. “They want to earn enough income to rent or buy a home close to their work and school for their children.”
Council returns to virtual meetings; Ramada Inn vote delayed
The vote on the proposed $9.75 million emergency shelter project was delayed so that members of Council have more time to review the proposal and understand community concerns.
Residents weigh in on proposed East Asheville homeless shelter
While each of the speakers at the meeting commended city leaders for taking steps to help Asheville’s homeless residents, some who were also residents at nearby apartment complexes voiced concern about the proposed shelter’s location.
Council debates COVID relief spending plans
Highest on city staff’s list of potential funding priorities were affordable housing, public engagement, homelessness, public and mental health, small business recovery and workforce development.
Community paramedicine program addresses opiod overdoses
Buncombe County experienced a 147% increase in overdose deaths between 2015 and 2017, the most recent period for which data is available from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. According to Emergency Services, Buncombe averages six-to-eight deaths monthly from probable overdoses.
Letter: Homelessness is not a ‘lifestyle’
“Just as mental, physical and socioeconomic conditions are not lifestyles, neither is homelessness; it is an outcome of those conditions.”
Letter: Asheville, we need to invest in ourselves
“We need to invest in ourselves — pay living wages, build or convert affordable housing, expand public transportation, house the homeless, focus spending on the people who live here.”
Low-barrier shelter may fill temporary housing gaps
Newly formed Asheville nonprofit Accessing Needed Crisis and Critical Help Outreach and Resources is proposing a low-barrier, high-access shelter that would forego many of the usual rules for tenants. Start-up costs could reach $6.5 million, with annual operating costs of $3 million, and would initially be funded through Asheville’s approximately $26.1 million in federal coronavirus relief.
From NC Health News: Illness turned housing instability into homelessness for one western NC couple
At 4.61 percent in 2016, North Carolina ranked 5th in the nation in its eviction rate, almost twice as high as the national eviction rate of 2.34 percent that year. Franklin resident Donna, and her partner, C., are two of the many Western North Carolina renters impacted by eviction.
Community members blast planned homeless camp removal
Asheville has issued removal orders for camps at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Aston Park, along Cherry and Hill streets and at Riverbend Park near the Walmart Supercenter on Bleachery Boulevard in East Asheville.
Homeless resource groups think big with COVID relief funds
“[The funding is] intended to be a pandemic response; it’s not actually intended to end homelessness. It just is, happily, an opportunity for us to end homelessness, because that is also a response to the coronavirus,” says Emily Ball, homeless services lead for the city of Asheville.
Letter: The many benefits of urban food gardens
“I, like you, worry about the sharp rise in homelessness, but urban gardens are not to blame in the least.”
Letter: Homeless camp removal shows need for better government response
“So, the paradoxical situation is that we pay taxes to allow destruction of humans’ property, means of surviving and dignity, while we voluntarily pay to improve those circumstances.”
Letter: The problem with urban food gardening
“All land served by sewer lines is desperately needed for housing, both to end homelessness and to save fuel by reducing commuting distances.”
Overpass
Letter: Ending homelessness via St. Joseph’s campus?
“I’m certain I can’t be the first to wonder why the St. Joe’s campus side of Mission Hospital couldn’t become a resource for housing hundreds of people just like that?!”
Buzzy Collective
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Starving Artists
ASHEVILLE, N.C.