The Fayetteville Police Department received $3,010 from two community funds to help with its homelessness efforts.
The money will go to one-day and 30-day bus passes to be handed out by FPD officers during their weekly outreach work. It’s the first time the department has provided this resource as a part of its efforts to address homelessness in the city.
DeAnna Braggs, Fayetteville Police Department’s homeless and mental health coordinator, said many unhoused residents often can’t afford to use the Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST), the city’s public transit system. A one-day pass, which pays for rides within 24 hours of purchase, costs $3 for an adult. A 30-day pass is $40.
“More often than not, our homeless community has no choice but to forgo important appointments, including mental health services, job interviews/employment, Medicaid/EBT recertification and housing appointments,” Braggs said in the city’s press release announcing the grant funding.
The Fayetteville Police Department has access to bus passes in “emergency situations” to provide to unhoused residents needing transportation to these necessary services, the press release states. Officers will distribute the bus passes while on patrol. Residents can also request passes at the front desk of the department’s downtown location.
Rickelle Harrell, public information specialist for FPD, told CityView that residents are limited to one pass per 30-day period.
The Cumberland Community Foundation made the effort possible. When Kendra Murray, community grants manager for the foundation, learned that many unhoused residents can’t access transportation, the foundation turned to the Kistler-Hollstein Community Fund and the Ann & John Ashford Community Fund, the press release states. According to Mary Holmes, the foundation’s president and CEO, these funds were established to help support basic human needs and services.
“Both Mrs. Kistler-Hollstein and Mrs. Ashford would be very happy to know that they helped a homeless person travel to a doctor’s appointment, job interview or food pantry,” Holmes said in the press release. “It is just the kind of people that they were — generous and under the radar.”
Bus passes are also available at the Fayetteville Cares Day Resource Center, a homelessness resource center managed by the Manna Dream Center in partnership with the City of Fayetteville. The Fayetteville Cares Day Resource Center has helped provide 120 one-day and 21 30-day bus passes from October to December 2024.
The city also partners with the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Continuum of Care (CoC) to provide these resources and others to its unhoused residents.
