March 28th, 2024 Update:
THE COUNTY
We need Albemarle County to take action so that enough homes can be built for everyone in our community to have a safe, accessible and affordable home. The largest obstacle to building affordable housing is funding. Over 850 communities across the country have begun to address this be establishing affordable housing trust funds that leverage public dollars to create more affordable housing. In fact, IMPACT got the city of Charlottesville to establish a housing trust fund in 2008, that has now funded the construction and renovation of nearly 3500 affordable homes. Albemarle County does have a “housing fund”, but it does not have any governing ordinance or dedicated funding, which are critical to being able to be strategic and targeted in building more affordable housing.
At our 2024 Nehemiah Action with over 1,000 people, We asked Supervisors Ned Galloway, Ann Mallek, and Michael Pruitt to draft an ordinance to establish the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and to vote on it by the end of 2024. We want the ordinance to include: 1) An annual allocation of at least $10MM a year, 2) an independent governing structure for the expenditure of the funds and a requirement for public annual reports, and 3) prioritizing funding for the construction of housing for families making less than 60% of the area median income, about $75,000 a year.
All three supervisors said “yes”.
However, there is still more work to be done to make sure this gets pushed through. Contact us to find out how you can get involved.
News coverage on our Nehemiah Action: The Daily Progress; Cville Tomorrow
The Problem
There are at least 6,600 low income families who are one paycheck away from homelessness because they pay more than half their income toward housing. This problem has grown since the start of the pandemic. Four out of five of these families earn less than $43,000 each year. Rents in the region have increased by 42% between 2011 and 2018, with residents experiencing a rent increase of 7% in 2017. In Albemarle County the affordability requirements for 445 units will expire within the next 10 years, potentially kicking 445 families into the streets. Seniors and people of color are affected at disproportionate rates.
Zoning and land-use policies in Charlottesville with roots in the Jim Crow era, are pricing out lower income families. One in four Black homeowners have either moved or lost their homes between 2000 and 2018, while white homeownership has increased by 20%.
Our vision is to see HOUSING FOR ALL: Everyone needs an opportunity for safe, accessible and affordable housing. A bold step toward this is for the City, County and UVa to commit to solutions that will provide at least 3,000 new affordable homes by 2030. Here’s how we get there:
WHAT WE WANT IN THE COUNTY
We want an Affordable Housing Trust Fund that will prioritize low-income families and seniors. To do that well, it needs $5 million annually from dedicated funding sources.
WHAT WE WANT IN THE CITY
We want $3 million annually, from dedicated funding sources, in the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund. It is a proven tool to help developers build affordable homes.
WHAT WE WANT FROM UVa
Reserve at least one-third or 300-500 of UVa’s housing goal for families at or below 60% AMI and/or accept housing choice vouchers: For example, families of 4 earning $56,340 or less are among the hardest hit by the housing crisis. We want the University to take seriously its opportunity to close the widening gulf that threatens these families
Our affordable housing campaign started out as an elder care issue, because our senior citizens are being priced out of their homes and becoming homeless. Check out our elder care page to read more.