Two objectives of Asheville’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, counting homeless people and administrating, do not instill confidence. Because counting homeless people is riddled with uncertainties and opportunities for error, it is our part to assume those counting are using higher methods than one’s average statistician. The results of point-in-time surveys are shown on page 6 of the plan. Note the nonlinear scale.

The plan was drafted just after a point-in-time survey counted 689 homeless people in Asheville. Today that number is 509. According to the Mountain Xpress, 441 are adults, 58 are children, and, as one astute reader pointed out, ten must be something else. If we believe the stats, the number of chronic homeless is also down considerably. 293 chronic homeless roamed about Asheville in 2004. The latest count found only 181. This would be consistent with Homeless Initiative Coordinator Amy Sawyer’s recent statement that the program she oversees has housed more than 100 homeless, and the housing is supposed to be for the chronic homeless.

More information would be desirable, such as:

• What methods are used for counting homeless people?
• What is keeping those who wander in housing?
• What is overcoming normal tendencies toward static equilibrium? That is, where is the influx of new homeless people who were expected to fill the spaces left by those put in housing?
• Was the activist who was making up names during the last petition drive involved in either the 2004 or the recent count?