Are your housing costs affordable? In January this year, the US Department of Housing & Urban Development defined affordable housing as housing costs, including utilities, that do not exceed 30% of an occupant’s gross income. Currently, over 56,000 working households in Wake County cannot afford housing. This crisis affects long-time residents, firefighters, teachers, and police officers. Historic Black neighborhoods are particularly hard-hit by gentrification and displacement. For instance, downtown Raleigh zip codes have seen a 259% increase in White residents over the past 20 years.
Despite ongoing efforts by Wake County and other municipalities, these measures are insufficient. Since 2019, Wake County has built or preserved more than 3,500 affordable homes, yet there remains a shortage of over 65,000 affordable units.
One Wake has a vision of partnering with Nehemiah HDFC to construct at least 1,000 affordable homeownership units and 1,000 affordable rental units. This ambitious plan is crucial for addressing the housing crisis. Nehemiah HDFC has successfully built over 6,500 affordable homes for predominantly Black and Brown families, generating nearly $2 billion in generational wealth and effectively combating gentrification in areas like East New York, Chicago, and Baltimore.
To bring this vision to life, we need significant support from elected officials on the Wake County Board of Commissioners and the City of Raleigh. They must provide substantial public land, financial subsidies, and rezoning.
One Wake has launched a petition to support this vision and aim to gather 10,000 signatures to deliver to elected officials. We are targeting to have the signatures by September 10th so that we can deliver them by October 10th. The hope is that these signatures will persuade elected officials of the importance of this investment. Nativity has committed to collecting 500 signatures. So far we have gathered a little over 100 signatures and need your help to gather many more to meet our commitment.
There are two ways you can help us gather signatures:
- Signing Online: Just click here to access the link for the online petition. Please be sure to enter Church of Nativity in the Institutional Affiliation field.
- If individuals would like to sign on paper, click here to download a packet explaining the petition also including a sheet to gather signatures. When gathering signatures PLEASE make sure to gather information in all fields. If the individual is not comfortable with providing their phone number that is ok but we must have their address. Please also make sure that for Institution they put Church of Nativity. *Individuals also must live in Wake County*
Thank you for your support!