Newsletters

It’s hard to keep up with the headlines these days, but if you are following along, you may have seen news over the past couple of weeks about cuts to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I have had several people reach out to me to ask whether these proposed cuts would affect our work here at Community Home Trust.

First, I want to thank those of you who have shared your concerns. I deeply appreciate how invested in and supportive of CHT’s work our community is, and I’m grateful to those of you who have reached out to ask how we’re doing and how you can help. Like so many people who pay attention to the state of housing affordability in our country, I am very concerned about how these proposed cuts may affect affordable housing organizations’ ability to do the important work of making sure everyone has access to a home they can afford.

I am also grateful to organizations like the North Carolina Housing Coalition (NCHC), which is bringing organizations and concerned individuals across the state together to help sort through what is happening and what we can do as a collective, as local organizations, and as individuals. As Samuel Gunter, Executive Director of the NCHC, shared in a recent call with our Orange County Affordable Housing Coalition and in this blogpost, it’s not too late for us to make our voices heard as housing advocates – in fact, our elected officials need to hear from us now more than ever when such significant changes hang in the balance. In short, the cuts are not a done deal, so we need to continue to fight for what we know our communities need.

As for Community Home Trust specifically, there are a few things we rely on federal funding for that could be threatened if these cuts go into effect. Specifically, we use HUD funding to help keep our homes in good repair and to maintain the habitability of our homes. One example is the crawlspace repair project we completed last year at Legion Road, which was funded by a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HUD funding that is specifically designated to “develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income peoples.” Without this $25,000 grant, we could not have ensured that this essential project was completed, which would have left our homes in danger of further damage and deterioration caused by moisture that had seeped into the crawlspaces. The mold and mildew that results from such leaks can also cause health concerns for residents.

Another way we have historically used HUD funding is to ensure we can provide homeownership opportunities to folks who need additional support in order to purchase a home, either as subsidies to further reduce the price of the home or to help cover closing costs. We use HUD’s area median income (AMI) calculations to help us determine who qualifies for our program, and when we’re able to apply these additional subsidies, that means we’re able to serve folks earning lower percentages of AMI.

So while Community Home Trust’s basic operations are not threatened directly by cuts to HUD, our ability to do what we do so well – maintain our permanently affordable housing inventory, and serve a broad range of applicants – may be compromised without that funding. And as members of a community of housing organizations working with folks with a variety of housing needs, we are very concerned about what these cuts will mean for our collective work.

So what can we do?

There are a few things you can do to add your voice to the collective:

• Add your signature to this letter from the North Carolina Housing Coalition
• Contact your elected officials, whose information you can find here
• And continue to support our work at CHT by donating here

Thank you, as always, for your partnership and support!

Kimberly Sanchez, Executive Director