"You won't be able to build your way out of this," Terri Burhans tells the Star-News of Wilmington, NC, where 35% of households are cost-burdenedmeaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
Burhans is the network officer for community development at the New Hanover Community Endowment, which has allocated $19.1 million to address the county's affordable housing crisis.
The money will go toward helping to rehabilitate existing properties and build new ones, as well as creating a fund to provide low-cost capital for development projects that include affordable housing.
The investment is part of a $1.3 billion endowment created by the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners after the sale of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health in 2020.
"Our residents deserve a path to safe, stable, and affordable housing, and we're eager to be part of the solution," Chris Boney, chair of the NHCE's Grants committee, says in a press release.
The affordable housing crisis is being driven by land prices and the coastal region's "desirability," which Burhans says has led to higher housing costs.
By 2032, studies show the county will need more than 12,000 new rental units and nearly new 17,000
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