Affordable Housing

Since 1987, Bob Kucab has led the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) and through his life’s work has made an impact on thousands of North Carolina families.  Bob announced his retirement last year and has been succeeded by Scott Farmer, himself a 17 year veteran of the agency.

In early January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its American Housing Survey (AHS) results. The AHS is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and is the most comprehensive housing survey in the country. It provides information on housing types, characteristics, and costs for both owners and renters.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) isn’t always considered one of the important federal agencies, but its programs and policies have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Americans.

This past week, the Wake County Board of Commissioners under the leadership of Commissioner Jessica Holmes voted to establish a 32-member affordable housing commission designed to  provide input to the County Commission around the need for more affordable housing development.  I am pleased to be named to serve as part of this effort along with our Habitat Wake board member, Dr. Marvin Connelly of the Wake County Public Schools.

See this article from Indyweek.com:

Many of us are familiar with Trulia or its parent company, Zillow Group. Before moving to the Triangle, I spent countless hours combing through apartment listings on their website, reading characteristics of various neighborhoods and calculating possible commute times.

Over lunch last week, my colleague, John, told me about the challenges his community faces with transportation. John is also a Habitat Homeowner. His neighborhood is one of several off of New Hope Road in Southeast Raleigh that doesn’t have easy access to a bus line. “My neighbors –women, men, and students– walk more than a mile along roads with no sidewalks to reach the nearest bus stop,” John said. “They walk in all weather. There is an elderly gentleman that I see every day – he’s walking because he needs to catch the bus.”

The Wake County Public School System is the nation's 16th largest public school system with a 2015-16 average daily attendance of 157,780 students.

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a decrease in the national poverty rate to 13.5 percent of the population with 3.5 million fewer people living below the poverty line in 2014.

Average incomes rose to $56,516 a 5.2% inflation-adjusted increase over 2014.

Some good news for a change!

Click here to view the complete article.

Check out these challenging thoughts from Self Help Credit Union founder and CEO, Martin Eakes describing his thoughts on why homeownership loans to low income families are good risks. I would concur with Martin with Habitat's experience making mortgage loans to low-income families since 1976.