Rutherford County Homelessness Count Canceled for 2026

Taxpayer-Funded Agency Cancels Rutherford County Homelessness Count, Creating Gap in HUD Data and Funding Rutherford County will go more than a year without an official count of people experiencing homelessness after Partners Health Management, the region’s taxpayer-funded Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organization (LME/MCO), canceled the county’s 2026 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC).

The effort, led locally by United Way of Rutherford County and coordinated by Partners Health Management, was called off, citing recent winter weather, even though the local count was not scheduled to take place until Feb. 10, according to emails obtained by WCAB News.

Partners Health Management is a publicly funded governmental entity responsible for managing Medicaid, state, and local funds for mental health, intellectual/developmental disability, and substance use disorder services across multiple western and central North Carolina counties, including Rutherford.

Under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements, Continuums of Care must conduct an annual PIT Count of sheltered individuals experiencing homelessness and submit a Housing Inventory Count cataloging available beds and housing units. These data directly inform federal homelessness funding allocations, program evaluations, and policy decisions.

With the 2026 count canceled and postponed until January 2027, it remains unclear whether individuals who experience homelessness in Rutherford County throughout the coming year will be included in any HUD funding considerations. Four sources, not authorized by their respective agencies to speak publicly, told WCAB News that it will not be.

County partners were notified of the cancellation via email from a Partners Health Management housing specialist. The statement is below, in full:

“Good afternoon, Rutherford County Colleagues. Due to the recent inclement weather that we've experienced over the past two weeks, we just received word that this year's PIT Count has been cancelled. Safety is a major priority and concern, and I am sure that this was a hard decision to make. Please help us to spread the word.

Please be informed that planning sessions will begin in the Fall preferably in October of this year to begin preparing for our January 2027 Rutherford County PIT Count. This will give us adequate time to prepare, secure volunteers, provide training, and to gain support from our area churches.

Many thanks to Suzanne Porter, Cynthia Cooper, and United Way of Rutherford County for their support as well as Matt LaBreche, Brandi Willis, and Joyce Martin. They were the first persons to accept the challenge and to jump in and help.

Wishing you all a great week and many positive outcomes in the month of February! Thank you for your willingness to serve our homeless neighbors in Rutherford County and to support this annual initiative.

Best,Sharon Robbs, Housing SpecialistBurke, Catawba, and Rutherford Counties”

HUD requires PIT and HIC data to be submitted through its Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) system, where communities are compared nationwide. Without updated data, Rutherford County risks being undercounted relative to other regions that completed their required surveys.