Check out this very encouraging story from Indiana where a local city council has made the proactive decision to build affordable housing over building a jail. More of this! Smart move, Bloomington City Council!

Check out this article by Alan Durning, written from a Seattle perspective on Sightline Institute's website, addressing the simple fact that lack of affordability is, at its root, caused by an excess of demand over supply. Raleigh gets relatively good marks in this article, but I'm concerned we are headed down a path that cities like Seattle are already experiencing.

The 2018 annual Habitat for Humanity International AmeriCorps Build-A-Thon will bring hundreds of current AmeriCorps members and dozens of local AmeriCorps alumni members to Wake County, May 20-26.  Together, AmeriCorps members will frame and preserve 12 homes in Raleigh.

Habitat Wake hosted the 2016 Build-A-Thon in Fuquay-Varina.

U.S. Representative David Price visited Habitat Wake at our Crosstowne neighborhood in Raleigh this afternoon. His visit was one stop on a day-long tour of organizations that partner with AmeriCorps members to serve the local community.

On Monday, the Wake County Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a 20-year comprehensive plan to address the growing need for affordable housing in our community.

On September 14, I received a call from Habitat for Humanity International CEO, Jonathan Reckford, asking if I would consider a 4 week temporary assignment to help Habitat plan its response to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida.   I gave it some quick thought and checked in with my family and our Habitat Wake board and leadership team and accepted the assignment.

Lowe's Heroes will work alongside Northeast End residents on Saturday, October 7. Beginning at 8:15 a.m., volunteers will

Habitat Wake's beginnings began at the Corner Restaurant in the town of Wake Forest. In early 1985, Jack VandenHengel; Chris Fuller, son of Habitat for Humanity International founder Millard Fuller; and three others met to discuss the formation of an affiliate in Wake Forest. Around the same time, Dennis Gabriel, John Wilson and Fred Johnson, were meeting to discuss organizing an affiliate in Raleigh.

Lisa Rowe, executive director of local non-profit Families Together recently wrote an excellent op-ed piece published in the News & Observer.  A former colleague of mine from Habitat for Humanity International, Lisa knows first hand-through her work at Families Together the struggle of families facing homeless in our local community.

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article172287507.html

The cost of housing is skyrocketing in many metropolitan area across the country and, as Wake County grows, we’re experiencing those effects here as well. In an opinion piece published by the New York Times, two economics professors describe how land use restrictions contribute to increasing housing costs.