Esther E. Manheimer Mayor at City of Asheville | Official website
Esther E. Manheimer Mayor at City of Asheville | Official website
As part of its Fiscal Year 2025 budget, the Asheville City Council has included eight permanent positions for the Community Responder Team, aligning with Homelessness Strategies and Reimagining Public Safety priorities.
With the understanding that homelessness is a crisis, not a crime, Asheville Fire Department (AFD) Community Responders will be the lead and first on-the-scene operational response agency to support people in crisis and mitigate the community-wide effects of homelessness. Community Responders are actively reimagining public safety by helping to make connections to resources and providing services when no law is being broken. The team will comprise five certified firefighters and three civilians, including two peer support specialists with lived experience.
The City recently hired a Community Responder Manager to oversee program development, data tracking, and supervise two peer support specialists. Peer support position development continues, with hiring expected in fall 2024. The Community Responder team operates seven days a week from approximately 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., covering all areas within Asheville city limits and serving as the primary response to encampments.
The AFD created the Community Responder pilot program in May 2023 as part of the Downtown Safety Initiative. Five firefighters volunteered for reassignment to support the initiative. This team focused on proactive efforts to assist persons unsheltered or experiencing behavioral health issues in the downtown area. Additionally, they interacted with local businesses and residential areas through education and proactively addressed concerns before they escalated.
Following the initiative’s success, the pilot program was expanded beyond downtown. A budget request for fiscal year 2025 proposed fully funding the program using opioid settlement funds to offset some costs.
The recently enhanced Homelessness Services Page is designed to provide community members with easily accessible information on issues related to homelessness services including:
- Seeking assistance for yourself or someone else without housing
- Learning more about homelessness
- Joining the collaborative response through the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care (CoC)
- Requesting encampment response due to safety concerns
Alerts Sign-up