National Community Development Week

National Community Development Week is April 22-26 and showcases the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) programs administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The HOME program, in particular, is an important source of funding for Orange County and the towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough to address the critical need to create and retain affordable housing for low and moderate income households. The County and the three municipalities collaborate regularly and have come together to form the Orange County HOME Consortium, which in the past five years has awarded an average of $332,920 annually to provide such housing services as acquisition and rehabilitation of property for affordable rental housing, homeowner repairs and homebuyer and second mortgage assistance.

Funds are awarded each year to non-profit housing providers active in the community, including CASA, Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together of the Triangle, EmPOWERment, Inc., Community Home Trust, and Orange County Housing and Community Development Department, to name a few.  Without the collaboration of the local jurisdictions, Orange County and the non-profit community partners, the housing needs of low and moderate income persons and families could not be addressed.

Community Development Week (CD Week) is important because it acknowledges the importance of federal funding and leveraging local resources to create and preserve safe, decent and affordable housing for low-income persons and families.  In fact, CD Week always coincides with the Congressional spring recess in order to give local officials and citizens the opportunity to reinforce the importance of affordable housing to its Congressional delegation.

Market forces are one of the largest—if not the largest—obstacle to retain and expand a community’s inventory of affordable housing. Successfully counteracting these forces requires federal programs like HOME and CDBG. 

In observance of National Community Development Week, Orange County has placed exhbits at the Chapel Hill and Orange County Library Main Branches.  So come on back to the County’s website throughout the week and/or stop by the libraries and pick up a listing of articles, movies and books that will provide insight into community development and affordable housing issues, as well as spark conversation and creative thinking that we hope you would share with us at esutton@orangecountync.gov.

Orange County projects funded by HOME*

Acquisition

An allocation of $69,480 to EmPOWERment, Inc. for the acquisition of a single-family property for lease to a household earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) (2017-2018).

An allocation of $145,000 to EmPOWERment, Inc. for the acquisition of a single-family property for lease to a household earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) (2018-2019).

Homeownership Assistance

An allocation of $211,830 to Habitat for Humanity to provide deferred payment, no interest second mortgages for ten (10) homes in Orange County’s Fairview and Tinnin Woods subdivisions to be sold to households earning between 30% and 65% of the AMI (2017-2018).

An allocation of $285,000 to Habitat for Humanity to provide deferred payment, no interest second mortgages for twelve (12) homes in Orange County’s Fairview and Tinnin Woods subdivisions, as well as the Northside Community in Chapel Hill to be sold to households earning between 30% and 65% of the AMI (2015-2016).

An allocation of $60,000 to Community Home Trust (CHT) to provide financial support to homebuyers earning between 65% and 80% of the AMI, including applicable homebuyers who are purchasing re-sales from the Land Trust (2018-19).

Housing Rehabilitation

An allocation of $28,538 to Rebuilding Together of the Triangle to provide critical repairs, accessibility modifications and home performance upgrades to households earning less than 80% AMI (2017-2018).

An allocation of $114,655 to the Orange County Department of Housing and Community Development for housing rehabilitation for homes owned and occupied by households earning less than 80% AMI (2016-2017).

New Construction

An allocation of $154,500 to the Downtown Housing Improvement Corporation, Inc. (DHIC) to partially support the new construction of eighty (80) apartments on Legion Road to be leased to households earning less than 60% AMI (2015-2016).

Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA)

An allocation of $50,000 to Housing for New Hope to support homeless outreach and increase housing support to assist the homeless of Orange County secure permanent housing (2015-2016).

* This is not an exhaustive list.