The National Alliance to End Homelessness held a retreat Thursday with the Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee to further unpack what the next steps should be in ending homelessness in Asheville.
The retreat came after the National Alliance to End Homelessness presented conclusions and recommendations drawn from its study of homelessness in Asheville to city and Buncombe County leaders Wednesday.
Homeward Bound Outreach Program Manager Mike DeSerio said the recommendations served as a good summary of things that were already known, but he hopes they will bring into clearer focus how to really accomplish change.
DeSerio said sometimes people in the community don’t always trust those already working in the community and want an unbiased opinion.
“Hopefully, this study kind of fills that gap for some of those people, maybe like an expert second opinion for them on what’s going on,” DeSerio said.
DeSerio said, from his experience, it’s been easy for some in the community to have a negative interaction with a homeless person and immediately point fingers at what the city and county should be doing.
Instead, he thinks people need to change their mindset to what can they can do.
“We need to wrap our head around the idea that this is not going to change unless we all get on board to do something,” he said.
DeSerio thinks that is where community members get in trouble -- they wait for something to happen instead of making an effort to make it happen.
“My church can open a basement and we’re going to house some people for a little bit Or, I can go and collect coats and this kind of stuff and I don’t need to ask anybody’s permission. I can just do it,” he said.
DeSerio said one of the questions they discussed Thursday was how to bring down barriers to get people off the street and into shelters.
He thinks low-barrier shelters would be a great solution.
DeSerio said that would be the doorway to reaching many people who haven’t been able to go into shelters before.
“Having a low-barrier shelter is, basically, you know, offering shelter to the people that are the most fragile. That's something we need to make a priority,” DeSerio said.
DeSerio said said, as a short-term goal, they will continue to try and reach as many people on the streets as possible. For the long term, the goal would be to not just offer a singular resource but to have others work alongside them to provide whatever resources the person needs at the moment.
Asheville Homeless Coalition co-chair Kevin Mahoney said he has an open mind to see where the alliance's recommendations take the city.
But, he said, one thing does need to change -- the makeup of the organization that has been discussing how to solve homelessness.
“I think it should be like 75% unhoused or people who have recently had situations like that rather than a bunch of smart people from different organizations,” Mahoney said.
In the short term, Mahoney would like to see more buildings opened for the homeless. In the long term, he would like the city and county to create a solid low-barrier shelter building that’s there all the time.
The question of how to end homelessness doesn't have a simple answer. It's not a problem that can be solved overnight, but advocates believe the alliance's report is a start and the work will continue from there.