ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — New statistics confirm what some Asheville residents have seen with their own eyes: rising numbers of people experiencing homelessness in the city.

Results of the 2024 Point-in-Time Count are in, and volunteers found 739 people living in the city without permanent homes — either in shelters and transitional housing, or unsheltered — up from 573 in 2023.

There are several reasons for the increase, Asheville Communication and Public Engagement Specialist Sam Parada said.

“Affordable housing is a big component, and the city is taking steps to address that issue,” Parada said. “Another reason the numbers are up is the higher number of volunteers helping us with the count. We had almost double the number helping us since last year.”

Results reflect a return to pre-pandemic shelter and transitional housing capacity and a more accurate unsheltered count due to an improved count process, a news release said, citing a 72 percent increase in volunteer participation.

Community responders, Asheville Police Department, outreach staff from partner agencies and peer support specialists with lived experience of homelessness helped develop the unsheltered count plan.

“Their input resulted in significant methodology changes to expand the count for better accuracy, specifically adding a day-after count, targeted campsite outreach from professionals and adding service locations frequented by unsheltered people,” the release stated.

City officials said the expanded count identified 102 people who would not have been counted using the methodology of prior years.

The numbers were released Thursday at the Continuum of Care (CoC) meeting in which a new leadership board was elected.

The CoC, a formal planning body with primary responsibility for homelessness response in the Asheville-Buncombe community, is required to conduct a count of people experiencing homelessness during the last 10 days in January and report those results to the federal government.

Point-in-Time numbers

  • 2019: 580 (502 in shelter, transitional house and 78 unsheltered)
  • 2020: 547 (482 in shelter, transitional housing and 65 unsheltered)
  • 2021: 527 (411 in shelter, transitional housing and 116 unsheltered)
  • 2022: 637 (405 in shelter, transitional housing and 232 unsheltered)
  • 2023: 573 (402 in shelter, transitional housing and 171 unsheltered)
  • 2024: 739 (520 in shelter, transitional housing and 219 unsheltered)

City officials said 2024’s numbers would have come in at 637 (520 people in shelters or transitional housing, and 117 people unsheltered) if volunteers had conducted the count the same way it had been done in past years.

The full report will be posted on the Homeless Strategy Division data webpage.

Click here to learn more about the community’s homelessness response efforts and here to join the Continuum of Care.

Josh Morrow, of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, said he was not surprised by the increase.

“I believe the number is actually higher,” Morrow said. “I live in this every day. I see the people. The way the housing here is, rent is outrageous, I’m not surprised at all.”

Morrow was one volunteers who participated in the count.

“It’s about giving back, finding a way to give back” he said. “It’s about finding a way to reduce the stigma to the houseless population.”

Morrow, who was once houseless, said he was one of the people who suggested making changes to the way the count was conducted.

“We brought in people from organizations that are everyday involved in the houseless community,” Morrow said. “It was about how are we going to get the houseless population to communicate.”

“There’s always going to be ways to improve upon the system,” Morrow said.

Amy Cantrell, co-director of BeLoved Asheville agreed with Morrow’s assessment of the situation.

“There was a much more robust Point-in-Time Count this year,” Cantrell said. “I think this count certainly reflects what we’re seeing. It is indicative of our local housing crisis.”