Asheville-Buncombe County Community Reparations Commission
Part Three: Recommendations
TITLE: Asheville-Buncombe County Community Reparations Commission – Part Three
AUTHOR: City of Asheville staff and Wilma Dykeman Legacy website staff
SOURCE: City of Asheville website
PERMISSION to use not required
In the summer of 2020, the Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners passed similar resolutions supporting reparations for black communities in Asheville and Buncombe County. These resolutions called for "a process to develop short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations to specifically address the creation of generational wealth and to boost economic mobility and opportunity in the black community.”
About 25 Commission members, appointed in the spring of 2022, served on at least one of the five Impact Focus Area workgroups based on the charges set forth by the enabling resolutions: Criminal Justice, Economic Development, Education, Health & Wellness, and Housing. These workgroups were responsible for analyzing detailed information on the impact focus area and for reporting key findings to the full commission.
By September of 2025, the Community Reparations Commission had compiled its recommendations into a final report. Specific initiatives that “rose to the top” of the workgroups’ priorities included:
Criminal Justice
o Funding for Community Based (vs. institutional) Support Services
o Black representation in law enforcement
o Mental health support for justice-involved people and law enforcement
EconomicDevelopment
o Grants to legacy neighborhoods and public housing communities
o Business Corridors with commercial space for Black-owned businesses and communityservices in close proximity to Black neighborhoods
o Grants to Black-owned businesses.
Education
o Universal funding for Early Childhood Education - free, high-quality early childhood education (child care)
o Land/campus for cooperative community development programs
o Land for housing for recruited teachers
o A reparations lawyer to enact accountability measures.
Health and Wellness
o Health Care Subsidy, including the establishment of a dedicated transportation service for expecting mothers, ensuring access to prenatal appointments, birth classes, hospitals, and a free health clinic
o Black Birthing and Healing Centers
o Black Mental Health Network.
Housing
o Special attention to address damage to churches/homes in legacy neighborhoods as a result of Hurricane Helene
o A new dollar lot program.