Newsletters

It’s August, and for many of us – parents, teachers, school staff, and students – that means back to school. Whether you’re already back at it, like my son is, or soaking up the final days of summer vacation while compiling supply shopping lists, you may not be thinking about how your housing affects your success this school year.

But at CHT, we are.

The schools in our area consistently rank among the best schools in the state. What makes them so great? Perhaps most importantly, it’s the people who work there: the teachers, administrators, and staff who dedicate their lives to providing our kids with the quality education and exceptional learning environments they need to succeed.

Many of those education professionals are CHT homeowners: like TJ, an EC teacher and basketball coach who grew up in Chapel Hill and came back home to teach students with special needs, and who now owns a condo on Franklin Street; or Linda, a teacher with North Carolina Cyber Academy, a single mom who has been teaching for 25+ years and now owns a townhome in Carrboro; or Kelly, a middle school teacher and single mom of two teenage daughters, whose long journey to homeownership landed her in her brand new dream townhome in Bridgepoint. And of course, it’s not just educators who live in our homes, but many students and parents who are kicking off another school year, too.

The research is clear: having a stable, secure home matters to kids’ success in school. And it also matters to the well-being of the people whose job it is to help them succeed. In 2022, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) conducted a survey of teachers in 69 US cities. In 15 of those cities, a teacher earning a starting salary could not afford to rent a one-bedroom home. And while home prices have continued to rise, teacher salaries have not kept pace, making housing less and less affordable to those people who are essential to our students’ success.

What does that mean? Often, it means essential workers like school staff have to live increasingly farther away from where they work in order to be able to afford a home. According to the US Census Bureau’s most recent data from 2021, 74% of Orange County jobs are filled by people who commute from somewhere outside Orange County. Of the 63,653 people employed in Orange County, only 16,874 actually live here. When school employees live far from where they work, there are consequences for them and for our students – and that’s why it means so much to us at CHT to support so many school employees through our program.

One innovative way we’re supporting local educators’ housing needs is our new master leasing partnership with Chatham County Schools, called CHOOSE Chatham, a collaboration with the school district and the Chatham Education Foundation (CEF). Chatham County also faces a challenge affordably housing its essential employees, with 61% of workers commuting in from elsewhere every day. Through the CHOOSE Chatham program, we secure rental apartments and offer them to teachers at a reduced monthly rate. Teachers contribute only 30% of their gross household income towards rent; and while tenants are responsible for utilities, the rent also includes an allowance to cover these costs. Through this initiative, teachers can affordably live close to the schools where they work.

Our school employees make our communities better places to live, and at CHT, we’re proud to help our school staff be able afford to live here, too.

Kimberly Sanchez, Executive Director