Homeward Bound recently announced its plans to purchase the Days Inn hotel located at 201 Tunnel Road, with the intent to repurpose the hotel into 85 permanent supportive housing units for the community’s most at-need neighbors.
“After years of studying our community need and operating a small permanent supportive housing residence, Homeward Bound has a housing solution that will provide stability, safety, and improved quality of life for 85 of our community’s most vulnerable homeless neighbors,” Switzer said in a statement. “We are calling it ‘Home is Key.’”
José Valadez looks over the balcony at the Red Roof Inn in Asheville on Tuesday. Valadez is a client of Homeward Bound, which began housing otherwise homeless clients at the motel during the coronavirus pandemic this week. Photo by Jacob Biba, courtesy of Carolina Public Press.
It had been a while since Jose Valadez could commandeer a television without complaint.
Valadez, 50, had been homeless since the place he was sharing with a friend in Marion burned last year, he said.
On Monday, he was one of about 30 individuals who moved from a temporary shelter at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville — managed by the nonprofit Homeward Bound of Western North Carolina — to a Red Roof Inn on the city’s west side.
“Man, I feel like a king now,” Valadez said Tuesday after taking stock of his new room, which came with a flat-screen television, microwave, refrigerator, a clean, firm bed and a shower.
The Asheville City Council, meeting virtually Tuesday, unanimously approved contracts for amended services with Homeward Bound and the Red Roof Inn on Crowell Road.
Under the agreement, the city will rent 60 rooms at $44.99 per night, including tax, which will be reimbursable through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An additional agreement will extend around-the-clock security to the motel.
The city had previously approved the use of the civic center for up to 50 people, but that population had dropped to about 30 after the organization was able to find permanent housing for some clients and others chose to leave, Homeward Bound Executive Director Meredith Switzer told Carolina Public Press.
The city’s move of members of its homeless population from downtown to a busy commercial highway interchange on its western side, nearly 6 miles away, did not go unnoticed Tuesday. In public comments submitted by phone before Tuesday’s council vote on the relocation to the Red Roof Inn, some callers questioned the city’s actions and arrangements for security.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said security is typically present at regular shelters and is being provided at the motel. City Manager Debra Campbell said staff studied what other jurisdictions, including Charlotte and Greensboro, had done. Assistant City Manager Cathy Ball said transportation will be provided to those who need it.
The city’s arrangement with the civic center was winding down, and a new placement was needed. City officials worked at a “fast pace” to find a location but could not force hotels to work with them, Ball said.
“As to the location, it is not ideal,” Ball said.
The civic center space provided an innovative stopgap but lacked privacy. Beds were placed several feet apart along a concourse area, Switzer said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that noncongregate spaces be identified to house unsheltered people because they may be at higher risk of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
José Valadez inside his room at the Red Roof Inn in Asheville on Tuesday. Photo by Jacob Biba, courtesy of Carolina Public Press
“They were residing in a congregate shelter area, which at the time was a great fit and met their needs and kept them safe,” Switzer said. “But this is, you know, one step better than that, because now they have privacy, they have their own bathroom facilities. We had a client yesterday who said the first thing she wanted to do is take a bath; you know, she just wanted to kind of decompress.”
Like other specially arranged shelters for homeless residents in North Carolina, the provision of housing in Asheville is coming in part through federal funding. North Carolina received approval from FEMA in early April to provide as many as 16,500 housing units, including dorms and hotels, for those at-risk for COVID-19 and who lacked stable housing. That funding has subsequently been extended to June 6, according to a letter from FEMA to Michael Sprayberry, the N.C. emergency management director, posted on the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services website. That letter, dated May 7, also said about 600 people had been housed in noncongregate shelters. Kelly Haight Connor, a spokesperson for DHHS, said that under the FEMA waiver, 50 shelter sites had been set up by counties, local jurisdictions and nonprofits covering 66 counties as of Friday. Switzer estimated that as many as 150 people are chronically without shelter in the Asheville area and said she was not aware of any COVID-19 cases among them. Those staying at the Red Roof Inn are signing agreements to limit travel to essential needs only and to practice social distancing, Switzer said. Homeward Bound is expected to fill the remaining rooms Wednesday and Thursday, Switzer said. The Dale Fell Community Health Center will provide health care, including telemedicine and clinics, if necessary. Those staying at the motel will have access to case management through Homeward Bound staff on-site, outdoor space, linens, internet and a contracted laundry service, Switzer said. Meals are being coordinated through 12 Baskets, a local nonprofit food relief agency. Valadez said he arrived at the civic center in early April after hearing about it on a bus. Since arriving, he said he has been able to get on medicine to treat his bipolar disorder as well as receive other services. “It’s a breath of fresh air,” he said..
Asheville City Council approved a $530,000 loan agreement for Homeward Bound in July. The funds will be used to purchase and refurbish a one-acre property at 296 Short Michigan Avenue that has five structures, currently containing 8 one-bedroom apartment units, and 3 two-bedroom units. The repurposed property will provide permanent housing for disadvantaged families and individuals in the Buncombe County area who have an income of less than 60% of the Area Median Income, which is estimated to be $66,000 a year for a family of four.
The City Council Planning staff reportedly stated that the new initiative positively “impacts a population that has traditionally been very hard to serve through the Community Development division’s affordable housing tools,” as reported by Citizen Times. Homeward Bound adopts a housing-first model to effectively reduce homelessness.
This will be the first owned housing development for Homeward Bound, which has previously utilized city properties and rental agreements with landlords to find permanent housing for over 2,050 people since 1999 when the organization was founded.
Executive Director of Homeward Bound, Meredith Switzer reiterated the excitement within the organization and the wider positive effects of this project, that it will not only benefit “the folks we’re able to house at this property and at this site, but also what it’s going to mean for the community moving forward with much bigger projects with a much greater impact.”
April is a single mom with two teenage daughters who were homeless for six years. She grew up with a single mother who experienced domestic violence and struggled to find healthy ways to cope and keep her children safe. April also experienced relationship violence as an adult and created similar hardships for her and her children.
April had to live separately from her daughters because she did not have a permanent home.
April lived in and out of shelters in Asheville while working at a local motor lodge. Shelters felt like a prison to April, waiting for lockers and showers and strict bedtimes so, often, she lived on the streets. Homelessness required her to walk all night and stay awake to withstand the coldness of winter.
April’s Daughter Comes to Town
April’s oldest daughter texted her in June of 2018 to say she wanted to live with her. April had been staying at a local shelter, but they wouldn’t take in the 17-year-old. Rather than be separated again, April and her daughter began sleeping in their Jeep in church parking lots. They acquired many trespassing tickets throughout the winter time while April’s daughter was recovering from pneumonia. The Jeep was finally towed, along with all of their personal belongings. Throughout this time, April and her daughter continued to go to AHOPE for showers, charging their cell phones, snacks, and other needed services.
On January 29, Homeward Bound Case Manager Amanda moved April and her family into their very own home. With a letter from Homeward Bound saying they were housed, the courts dropped the trespassing charges they received while living in their car.
April wants people to know that ‘the struggle is real’ and that there aren’t enough shelters for single mothers or fathers with children. She and her daughters had to wait over four months for their apartment because three bedroom units are few and far between.
April (left) and her case manager Amanda (center). Her daughter is featured on the right.
She also explains that working full time or even part-time, and living on the streets, is virtually impossible when you are trying to keep your family together and safe. Now that they have moved into their own home, they are making plans for the girls to continue their education and for April to get back to work.
