This is not social engineering, nor is it social programming. Instead, it is a “re-engineering” of the “program.” (Their words, not mine.) It seems the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness needs some tweaking. Service providers indicate that the homeless population is increasing in Asheville, now that new apartments with wrap-around services are being provided. People at shelters speak of clients being dumped at the door, one time in a hospital gown and booties. From the staff report, we learn that the agency charged with oversight of the program has made great strides in attacking the problem. Their successes are quoted below:

• Hiring a homeless coordinator
• Creating a structure to coordinate the efforts of service provider agencies
• Identifying and obtaining additional resources
• Implementing the statewide Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)
• Acting as a liaison to local government
• Providing regular progress reports to the community.

To make things even better, city staff is now suggesting that the City of Asheville assume the role as the lead agency by turning oversight of the city’s program over to a proper municipal commission. They also recommend that a VISTA volunteer be hired to help with paperwork.

In another item on the same agenda, city staff recommends allocating funds to a homeless shelter that will allow it to stay open an extra four hours during the day. Rather than finding a job, the homeless like to congregate in Pritchard Park so they can play and play with passersby who get aggravated if they’re on a deadline and trying to get somewhere. As part of the future plans, the shelter, run by Homeward Bound, would offer, among other amenities, computer classes for the homeless.

Council will also consider if they want to demolish a motel. A walkthrough revealed the following:

The lobby looked seedy with graffiti on the walls and cushions and bottles on the ground. I took a stairway overgrown with weeds to the motel. With few exceptions, the windows were busted out. Most doors were open. Only the rooms on the outside of the courtyard were boarded, and not too well. Most rooms were furnished strangely with no curtains, toilets uprooted and turned this way and that, desks on top of beds or beds on top of chairs. One place had six or eight mattresses stacked, one had six or eight Gideon’s Bibles stacked. One had a basketball. Most rooms had about three beer cans or bottles on the floor. One room had a bottle of shampoo, and another had milk and yogurt. One had what could have been feces on the rug. Holes were torn in the walls of almost all rooms. Only one room had a visible telephone.

So, it is no surprise that in the same agenda we learn of more regulations on developers, including the shocking requirement that “Group R buildings” must now be sprinklered per state mandate. Two developments are promising deed restrictions to keep rental units affordable. Furthermore, there is still a push for a living wage, which would do wonders for the poverty level. Programs rigged to avail amenities to people with incomes 80% or 60% below median income will really be addressing poverty. This only exacerbates the insanity described well in a commentary by John Hood.