Today, the duality between poverty and uncertainty is on my mind. Does uncertainty cause poverty? Does poverty cause uncertainty? The unreliability of systems that provide an efficient delivery of goods and services and investment definitely leads to poverty-ridden communities. On a personal level, lack of material resources contributes to uncertainty—especially in the housing arena where families relocate frequently from tenuous rental situations. Add on layers of injustice, and you have a recipe for long-term sustained poverty that is difficult to escape.

A recent News and Observer article profiles a woman named Vanezza, who is experiencing homelessness in Raleigh and struggling to find an affordable home for her family. The challenges facing Vanezza are her daughter are not unique. As Wake County grows, thousands of families struggle to find an affordable place to live.

“The importance of safe, affordable housing for families prompts a recurring question,” says volunteer Bennie Collins. “How can we make a difference where we live?”

Buying a home is one of the largest investments American families make. With such big investment, it makes sense that homeowners want to be actively engaged in the outcomes of their neighborhoods. It’s something we should strive for -- we want people to be invested in their communities.

Happy New Year! With your help, we'll have a year that we can look back on and say we turned the tide on the need for affordable housing. In this Strong Towns article, Spencer Gardner provides five laws of affordable housing and three strategies for achieving housing affordability.

At Habitat for Humanity our work is focused around the building of homes and providing families the opportunity to own those homes.  A new tagline of ours is, “through shelter, we empower.”  I would say that the part of my job that I love the most is when I get to sign deeds of real property over to families who never imagined owning property.  Turning over ownership—in a capitalistic culture--that’s truly empowering.

As Christmas approaches, I am taken by the words of a young, very empowered Palestinian woman a couple millennia ago:

And Mary said,

Last month, lawmakers in the Senate and the House of Representatives each passed respective versions of a tax reform plan. Now Congress is working to reconcile the differences between the two bills and hopes to hold a final vote by the end of the week.

During negotiations, Habitat Wake is advocating for Congress to protect the value of the charitable giving deduction in the final tax plan.

Wake County has experienced considerable growth over the last ten years, but one in four families are still spending more than they can afford for housing. NC Policy Watch recently interviewed Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria on the state of affordable housing in the local community.

This December 1 New York Times article discusses how the supply of affordable housing is constrained not only by land use policy, but also by neighborhood opposition. According to Conor Dougherty, "building more housing, more densely, could help address a widespread economic challenge."

Habitat for Humanity International just released the fiscal year 2017 annual report. Read some stories
from the nearly 3.5 million families (105 of them in Wake County) whose housing situation was
improved by Habitat for Humanity around the world last year. Thanks for playing a role in making a
difference!