‘Commentary’ Archives
A-Hope Keeps People Out in the Cold – So Much For “Code Purple”
Background: "Code Purple" is the term City of Asheville Planning & Development Department - Community Development Division - Homeless Initiative came up with for allowing shelters to waive normal occupancy limits when it's "below 32° (or the equivalent with the wind chill factor)." This December 9th, 2010 announcement also said "Shelters [...]
Asheville Transit Denies Bus Service – Roads in Excellent Condition
We're in for another winter of denied bus service in Asheville, while the roads are in great shape. The Asheville Transit website has this to say about bus service today: "12/27/10 Due to road conditions, bus service has been suspended." (Link .) Here's a picture of Patton Ave., just west of downtown, at 12:45pm today. As you can see, [...]
Homeless in Asheville on Thanksgiving
Here's a great article by Jerry Nelson. I got his permission to post a link to it here. Homeless in Asheville on Thanksgiving
A-Hope Denies Services to Everyone
This is a followup to my blog entry A-Hope Threatens to Deny Services to Everyone Again from 10/05/2010. It has come to my attention that about a week after I posted that entry that A-Hope closed for two hours because someone was found drinking on the property. They barred that person, and closed to everyone for two hours. Once again, [...]
The Asheville Transit Master Plan is Dead – Sunday Bus Service is Not Coming
Sunday bus service, which everyone was expecting to begin on July 1st, 2010 when the fares went up, is not currently on the table to EVER happen. I sent an e-mail to city council asking about the Transit Master Plan (TMP), and posted it to this blog. That letter has been moved here. (You'll need to read it for back story.) I only got [...]
A-Hope Threatens to Deny Services to Everyone Again
Today Amanda, the Assistant Director, said A-Hope would close to everyone if another beer can was found outside. I assume she meant for the rest of the day, or the next day. It has been 3 1/2 months since I last wrote here about A-Hope threatening to deny services to everyone, as that's the last time I've heard of it happening. I haven't [...]
Asheville Transit: Broken Promises of Improved Bus Service – Yet the Associated Fare Increase Happens Anyway; More Fare Increases to Come
Starting July 1st we get to pay $20 for a monthly bus pass, up from $15. This increase is part of the Transit Master Plan (TMP) approved by the city. According to the TMP, the first of the "gradual" rate increases was supposed to coincide with the implementation of specified bus service improvements. That fact is in bold italics in the [...]
A-Hope Again Threatens to Deny Services
Unfortunately, this is now my third article in this series (about problems with the person running A-Hope). There was a note on the door of A-Hope today that said if they continue to find cups around the property then they are going to stop providing coffee. I didn't see any garbage, and I rarely do. Once in a while someone leaves a [...]
A-Hope Maintains Policy Which Encourages the Homeless to Sleep in Downtown Asheville; Won’t Address Suggestion
It's unfortunate I have to write another article like this about A-Hope, when they provide the most services to homeless people in Asheville, and the staff there are usually friendly. (My other article here is titled "A-Hope in Need of New Direction" from 4-30-2010.) The names of the involved persons are omitted here for privacy [...]
A-Hope in Need of New Direction
Today the Director of A-Hope threatened to close tomorrow if people are not "nice" to the staff. She said the staff were there "because they want to be" and they "could make more money working somewhere else." I had been there around 40 minutes and hadn't noticed any problem. When I went downstairs right after that announcement I asked a [...]
