I can’t believe it's August already! Typically, this has been one of our slower months, but that's definitely not going to be the case this year, as we prepare for the Annual Affordable Housing Conference and many other meetings across the state!
Last week, I had the pleasure of presenting to a Just Economics leadership class in Asheville. Just Economics takes grassroots leaders through a series of workshops to empower them to be more effective and active advocates for their communities around the issue of living wage jobs and sustainable community development.
I also spoke on the News & Views radio program hosted by Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch. I've been a regular guest on his show, and this time we discussed the current housing market, foreclosures, the need for more affordable rental housing, the Homeowner Protection Act, and our upcoming Affordable Housing Conference. We will post a link to the interview next week on our website, Facebook page, and Blog.
I also appeared on the St. Augustines’ morning radio program hosted by George Hausen, Director of Legal Aid of NC and fair housing advocate Octavia Rainey. We discussed how failing to integrate affordable housing in fast-growing areas is the underlying issue to the school assignment question for Wake County Schools.
New NCHC Program: Manufactured Home Communities Advisors!
I'm excited to announce that the NC Housing Coalition has been selected by Resident Owned Communities USA as a Technical Assistance Program Affiliate. We'll receive a $50,000 grant from the Corporation for Enterprise Development to work with residents of manufactured home communities to convert their parks into resident-owned co-operatives and their homes into appreciating assets. We've hired Kevin Drexel from Asheville to lead this multistate (NC, SC, TN, KY) effort. Kevin spent two years working with us on converting a park in Burnsville, NC to a community land trust in order to preserve the land and homes of the residents.
We will be featuring this new program in a workshop at our conference. If you are a local community organization or local government official, we hope you'll attend to learn more about how you can work with Kevin on this effort.
NCHC Annual Campaign
By now, all of you should have received an attractive mailer from us asking for your financial support. We'd like to thank everyone for supporting the Housing Coalition as organizational members. However, we rely on your personal contributions as well. Our goal is to expand our capacity to support local housing advocacy efforts across the state that will promote more affordable housing development in more integrated settings. I want to thank Anne Ehlers for her great work on the Campaign! Please note that the clear envelope is recyclable!
NC 2010 Affordable Housing Conference – Sept. 16-17th, Raleigh
Thanks to all of you who've already registered for this year’s Annual Affordable Housing Conference. The Conference is several weeks earlier this year so be sure to register now to get the lower registration rates. Together with CICCAR and NCHFA, we’ll again be hosting the conference at the Raleigh Convention Center on September 16-17th. Click here for all the information and to register. There are still rooms available at the Sheraton hotel.
Each year at our Annual Conference, we recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to advocate for affordable housing. We're asking for nominees for our Volunteer and Professional of the Year Awards. Winners will be recognized at the Coalition’s luncheon on the second day. Please nominate someone you think is deserving. Click here for more details.
NC Housing News
As mentioned in last week's Housing Matters, the NC Department of Commerce, Division of Community Assistance will be hosting Fair Housing Roundtables across the state to get public input on the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing in NC. It's very important that your stories be recorded in the Analysis of Impediment so we can highlight areas that need attention and eventually establish a Fair Housing Enforcement Center in NC. Please keep an eye on our website, as we'll be posting more information as it's available.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Chris Estes
Executive Director
No comments:
Post a Comment