Co-Leaders:

Work Group Members:

Updated 7/3/2024

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
• Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
• Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs

• Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers

The work group will break into small groups around the following priorities. Work group members are asked to consider  which small group they would like to join for action planning. 

• Group 1:
  • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
  • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Group 2 (2A):
  • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
• Group 3 (2B):
  • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs

2023-2024 Severe Housing Problems Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Monday, October 16, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams
• Monday, January 22, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams
• Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams
• Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams

Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Diannee Carden-Glenn, Ken Edminster, David Glenn, Lea Henry, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Patricia Macfoy, Karon McKinney, Bill Rowe, Betty Vines, Josh Walker, Stephanie Williams; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Josh Walker everyone and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The work group’s 2023-2024 priorities and small groups are:
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
      • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
      • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
    • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
      • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
      • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • At the work group’s previous meeting on March 18, 2024, the group began action planning. Refer to the meeting notes for additional information.
• Small Groups
  • The small groups went into breakout sessions to discuss progress updates since the last meeting and identify next steps. The small groups provided the following report outs.
  • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
    • Attendees: Lea Henry and Ashley Rink
    • This group was charged with looking at different forms of shared equity homeownership and considering the pros and cons.
    • More information is needed to assess whether homeownership is really about wealth creation. There still may be benefits, however, there is a need to be clear about what that means on both the advocate side and the buyer side. Buyers need to understand the limitations and options for wealth creation.
    • Lea Henry is committed to working on a memo on forms of homeownership and the ways wealth creation has been curtailed through the process. For example, there are often deed restrictions on the property itself, the house can only be sold to another low to moderate income person, and/or two or three deferred down payment assistance programs in the background.
  • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
    • Attendees: Diannee Carden-Glenn, Pat Macfoy, Bill Rowe, and Stephanie Williams
    • The group discussed making connections with organizations to help understand and learn more about the resources that are already available with regards to increasing funding and providing tenants with resources information, access to mediation, and legal representation.
    • The next step is to invite to the next meeting someone from Legal Aid, Vaya Health, and Pisgah Legal Services and an attorney from the NC Justice Center to provide additional information.
  • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
    • Attendees: Ken Edminster, David Glenn, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Karon McKinney, Betty Vines, and Josh Walker
    • The North Carolina Strategic Housing Plan will go live in June. 
    • The Healthy Opportunities Pilot is being expanded to include six months rental assistance. More information will be available once North Carolina’s waiver is renewed.
    • There are no new vouchers available as all the PHAs (Public Housing Agencies) are topped out and waitlists are expanding. The only options are turnover vouchers from when people move or die. Lack of resources is a major issue. The Point-in-Time Count indicates a major issue for women and children (makes up 45% or more of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness). Josh reached out to NC HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Field Rep Lorenzo Claxton.
    • Inclusion Connects update from Betty Vines: Described what is going on in the state to assist individuals with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities) in transitioning from institutional settings. Fact finding mostly at this time to get a baseline/ identify current resources since there was no funding associated with the Samantha R consent order.
    • Karon McKinney in Winston Salem: Demonstration project regarding addressing arrears sounds exciting. Discussed PTRC (Piedmont Triad Regional Council) and IDD specific building projects.
    • Stefanie Ledwell: Issues getting landlords to accept vouchers. There are landlord outreach personnel hired by housing authorities to build relationships with landlords.  Reaching out with weatherization funds and other opportunities. County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds are gone, but City has some left to utilize.
    • Discussed affordability when new ‘big fish’ move into new communities and if this group has any advocacy power. David Glenn shared a story about how Durham County and community was able to integrate a housing plan into it.
• Next Steps and Closing
  • The 2024 NC SHIP Community Council Annual Meeting will be on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 12:00 pm on Microsoft Teams. The Annual Meeting will be an opportunity to hear highlights across the Community Council and share more about what is next for 2024-2025.
  • The 2024-2025 Community Council, including the Severe Housing Work Group, will continue to build on this year’s work.
  • Ashley Rink will be sending an email asking if the current Severe Housing Problems Work Group members are willing to continue for 2024-2025.
  • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, September 16, 2024, the time is to be determined. A recommendation was for this meeting to be longer to allow for updates and group breakout sessions. A survey will be sent out to poll what times would work best.

Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Darren Brown, Diannee Carden, David Glenn, Lea Henry, Shoneca Kent, Sue Lynn Ledford, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Karon McKinney, Sarah Montgomery (DHHS intern), Bill Rowe, Kelly Sewell, Bettie Teasley, Betty Vines, Josh Walker; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Lea Henry welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The work group’s 2023-2024 priorities and small groups are:
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
      • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
      • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
    • Group 2(A): Tenant Issues
      • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
      • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • The following priority was moved to the work group’s priority development agenda for future consideration:
  • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
• Small Groups
  • The asks for small groups were to discuss the following:
    • Skill sets and interests, including what skill sets and interests members have related to these priorities.
    • Ideas for what the group should be working on for action planning, including what should be included in the action plan.
    • Ideas for additional work group members.
    • The small groups provided the following report outs.
      • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership
        • The group focused on different shared equity forms of home ownership that are possible, such as land trusts, cooperatives, and multi-unit housing.
        • The group plans to gather information about all the different types of possible types of homeownership, including these shared equity models, their pros and cons, and examples of who has successfully implemented them in North Carolina.
        • This information could be compiled as a tool to provide policy makers to help them understand what may be possible in their community in North Carolina.
        • The group also discussed access to money for rehab for homes. Some loans are available, however, not many lenders are working on those loans.
      • Group 2 (A): Tenant Issues
        • The group discussed engaging with Legal Aid and the Center for Housing, Community Studies (Bruce Rich), Greensboro Housing Coalition, people with legal backgrounds, landlord, someone from the Realtors Association, and a banker and/or someone in finance to consider next steps for the action planning process.
        • Local government could be an additional resource, for example when law enforcement served evictions, they could provide people with resources and information about where they could go for assistance. This is already happening in Charlotte and Durham.
        • Possibility of tapping into ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act Information and Resources) funds.
        • Tapping into resources at law schools to provide information to people.
      • Group 3 (2B): Assistance Programs
        • The group discussed what could be done to ensure more housing resources are getting to more people. This includes supporting expanding the Healthy Opportunities Pilots across the state. A question for the state level is to ask what the chance is of getting vouchers included in Healthy Opportunities for home assistance programs.
        • North Carolina is involved in a services and housing accelerator with HUD. Different housing partners are already working on this.
        • The DHHS Strategic Housing Plan should be launched later this year.
• Next Steps and Closing
  • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, June 17, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Monday, January 22, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Melanie Ahlstrand-Osborne, Patrice Brown, Diannee Carden-Glenn, Ken Edminster, Lea Henry, Shoneca Kent, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Brian O’Donnell, Bill Rowe, Betty Vines, Josh Walker, Vantoinette Savage; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Lea Henry welcomed everyone and reviewed the agenda.
  • The group welcomed Shoneca Kent, the new Director of Housing Equity Programs with the National Institute of Minority Economic Development, and Betty Vines, the new IDD Housing Specialist with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • Define Affordable Housing: The group discussed the following regarding affordable housing:
  • Affordable housing can be as broad as housing being affordable at every income level.
  • Focusing on low to moderate income persons.
  • Using HUD and local government definition: housing that is no more than 30% of people that are 80% or less of area median income (AMI).
  • Including a spectrum of possible solutions and not limiting it to 80% or less of AMI.
  • Concern about people on social security, disability, between jobs, and at the minimum wage level of income.
  • Overlap of severe income issues and ways that overlap with health issues.
  • The group is focused primarily on housing problems for people at 50% or below of area median income and lack of housing across the state at those income levels.
  • At 50% AMI or below, there are limited opportunities for housing ownership and may relate to keeping people in their homes. There are difficulties to scaling efforts for homeownership.
• Review Priorities: The priorities identified at the previous meeting were divided into three small groups to work on different aspects of the severe housing issues.
  • Group 1: Lea Henry
    • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
    • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
  • Group 2: Josh Walker
    • 2A. Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
    • 2B. Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • Group 3: Pat Macfoy:
    • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
• Small Groups
  • Asks for Small Group:
    • The co-leaders shared they want to make good use of members’ expertise and time and have concrete outputs and outcomes this year.
    • The group could report progress and information in a policy paper at the end of the year that could be shared with the group and the Department of Health and Human Services about what was found and what the group recommends.
  • The group discussed the following as potential action steps (part of the “bucket list” of actions).
    • Group 1: Facilitating Homeownership- Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership AND Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
      • Explore what are the homeownership mechanisms that would increase homeownership opportunities for low to moderate income people.
    • Group 2A: Tenant Issues- Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
      • Identify what resources are available and how people connect with those resources. (Fair housing 101 + money)
      • Engage Housing Finance Agency regarding what they have done with some of their properties with accessing fair housing and ways to expand that to North Carolina housing as a whole.
      • Review of fair housing across North Carolina, different measures that are in place, funding opportunities, and work could correlate with such as with the Healthy Opportunities Pilot.
    • Group 2B: Assistance Programs- Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
      • Identify where the following programs live and how they are funded: Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs.
      • Create a comprehensive list of what assistance programs are available and are not available.
      • Identify opportunities to increase the number of approved contractors.
      • (Lea Henry would be happy to provide input.)
    • Group 3: Migrant Workers- Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
      • Understand and identify the largest problems and needs for migrant workers related to housing.
      • Find and engage others who specialize in farmworker/ migrant worker housing issues.
      • Identify someone to co-lead group 3 with Pat Macfoy.
      • Engage someone in public health that has worked in rural areas and with farmworkers. (The Center for Housing may be able to provide contacts.)
  • Next Steps and Closing
    • Work group members are asked to share which small priority group they would like to be involved in prior to the next meeting.
    • The next Severe Housing Problems Work Group will be on Monday, March 18, 2024, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm via Microsoft Teams.

Monday, October 16, 2023, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm, Microsoft Teams- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Ken Edminster, Lea Henry, Stefanie Ledwell, Pat Macfoy, Lindsay Rosenfeld, Bill Rowe, Stephen Sills, Josh Walker; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid

Notes:

• The 2022-2023 priorities were:
  • Increase measures and funding to provide tenants with access to mediation, legal representation, and legal education to secure and protect housing
  • Remove legal barriers, institute enabling legislation, and facilitate lending to promote Community Land Trusts and other shared equity models of homeownership
  • Simplify and expand the Weatherization Assistance Program, Low-Income Energy Assistance Programs, and other healthy homes and utility assistance programs by affirmatively engaging low-income communities through targeted outreach to help families meet their energy needs
  • Support funding, loans, and other resources for housing providers in agricultural areas to improve safe and healthy home environments for migrant workers
  • Support programs designed to increase home ownership for historically disenfranchised communities
• Topics Discussed:
  • Add policy for seniors (affordable and aging in place), unhoused, supportive housing, reentry population, at-risk of homelessness, etc.
  • Broaden the definition of supportive housing services to encompass various forms of housing assistance, including preventative measures such as foreclosure assistance.
  • Focus on community land trusts was from measures to increase homeownership as an important component of achieving stable housing.
  • Influence on the 2022-2023 priorities was across the continuum of housing need. Prioritization should consider either increasing housing supply or stabilizing people who are housed so that they do not become unhoused, such as through mediation and upstream efforts.
  • Emphasize the importance of prioritizing policies that aim to stabilize individuals who already have housing, preventing them from becoming homeless. This includes affordability, offering support like foreclosure prevention and aging in place assistance, and legal resources to prevent evictions.
  • Recognize undocumented families and migrant workers as part of the vulnerable population.
• There were no changes to the 2022-2023 priority areas.
• Legal Aid, Housing Collaborative, AARP, Rural Center, ICCHP (Interagency Council on Coordinating Homeless Programs), and HUD were added to the list of potential partners to engage.
• Next steps were to:
  • Schedule quarterly work group meetings.
  • Ask work group members to share if they are interested in serving as a subgroup leader for the priorities.
  • Ask work group members to share which subgroup they would like to be involved with.
  • Schedule small subgroup meetings as needed.

• Center for Community Progress. (2021, December). Land Banks and Community Land Trusts: Partnering to Provide Equitable Housing Opportunities Now and for Future Generations. https://communityprogress.org/publications/land-banks-and-community-land-trusts-2/
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, December). North Carolina’s Olmstead Plan. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/508-compliant-north-carolina-olmstead-plan/download?attachment
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, March). Strategic Housing Plan. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/ncdhhs-strategic-housing-plan-final-22723/open