Asheville 2021 Point-in-Time count of people experiencing homelessness tabulated

Asheville -- City of Asheville May 18, 2021 Community News

The City of Asheville’s 2021 Point-in-Time count was conducted on January 27, 2021, and the results have been submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The 2021 Point-in-Time count identified 527 people experiencing homelessness in our community, which is a slight decrease from the 2020 count of 547.  

Overall the data are consistent with the past several years, indicating little change in the scale of homelessness. The significant change this year is in the pattern of homelessness; the 2021 data reflect a dramatic decrease in the number of people in shelters and transitional housing, and a corresponding increase in the number of people who are unsheltered.  That change highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the homeless population and our community’s service system.  Adhering to COVID protocols such as creating distance between beds, dedicating rooms as quarantine space for incoming clients, and requiring negative COVID tests for entry has resulted in decreased bed capacity throughout our community.

“Not having an increase in homelessness during such a difficult year is a great testament to the work of service providers in our community,” said Emily Ball, Homeless Services System Performance Lead with the City of Asheville. “I’m hopeful that with federal resources available for rental assistance, we’ll be able to keep additional people from becoming homeless and move currently homeless people into housing, decreasing this number even further.” 

Most data came directly from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), a database that local service agencies enter  point-in-time data into; also some information was collected via paper surveys conducted by agencies, as well as paper surveys from a street count conducted by volunteers.

Population    2021        2020

Sheltered       411          482
                      

Unsheltered    116            65

Total
                      527           547
 

To learn more about the City’s efforts to end homelessness, visit this link.  To learn more about the work of the Community Development Division, visit this link.