The post Homelessness is on the rise in Mecklenburg. The response remains a work in progress appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

By sharing industry updates, information impacting affordable housing and our own stories, we aim to spread knowledge and awareness of current affordable housing news. Catch up on our latest press pieces, mentions and news coverage as our professional housing navigators work to continue our mission.

Rebrand

Previously known as Socialserve, newly-rebranded Housing Collaborative strives to continue the same reliable, trusted services for housing placement by professional housing navigators as they always have.

• National Affordable Housing Nonprofit Rebrands to Clarify Mission

WCCB Charlotte, Local Today

• ‘Housing is foundational to a person’s success’ | Housing Collaborative gives landlords financial incentives

WCNC Charlotte, Carolina Journalism Collaborative

• Charlotte nonprofit has new name but same affordable housing mission

WSOC-TV, Yahoo News, NewsBreak

Features

A glimpse into homelessness in the area and what specific activations Housing Collaborative is doing to address the problem. 

• “No Place to Call Home” Special

WBTV

• Charlotte woman once homeless moves into apartment after WBTV story

WBTV

Call for Housing Providers

The community is losing housing faster than we can build it up, and the demand for housing providers who are willing to accept rental subsidies is greater than ever before. 

• Charlotte agency needs more landlords with rental subsidies

WFAE 90.7, WCNC Charlotte 

Local Assistance

Housing Collaborative continuously steps in when local displacement issues arise in the Charlotte community.

• Charlotte’s full coverage of hotel fees for seniors displaced after flooding ending Tuesday

WCNC

• Displaced seniors hotel stays extended; Charlotte nonprofits address housing needs.

The Charlotte Observer

• A south Charlotte motel closes, leaving dozens without a home

WFAE 90.7

• Some ‘Tent City’ residents who found permanent housing could soon be homeless again

WCNC Charlotte

• City Council suports affordable housing preservation in East Charlotte

City of Charlotte

The post 7 life-saving resources for Charlotte housing emergencies appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

In Mecklenburg County, we are losing more housing options than we can build back up: over 2,500 residents actively need homes from providers who accept vouchers. Housing Collaborative consistently works to bridge the gap between these individuals and property providers, but we need help! We are committed to helping residents succeed, and property providers hold the key to our residents’ futures; this is why we offer providers special incentives and on-demand support to ensure that these individuals are STAR residents throughout their time in households.

Incentives to partnering with us:

• $1,000 signing bonus per unit leased with Emergency Housing Vouchers
• $500 lease renewal bonus
• Risk mitigation funds to compensate for any property damage
• Hands-on assistance from application through inspection, lease-up, and renewals
• Ongoing support throughout tenancy

Our Housing Placement and Retention Teams offer hands-on support, a partner support portal for real-time payment updates, a Housing Partner Support Line, and proactively connect with property providers monthly to address any problems that may arise. Maintaining a partnership with Housing Collaborative means a multitude of benefits to providers:

• Filling units promptly with no advertising spend 
• On-time rent and deposits payments 
• Incentives for voucher and subsidy programs
• Ongoing housing support for residents AND property providers

Our 89% success rate in housing retention truly speaks for itself. 

If you are a housing provider willing to accept housing vouchers and are interested in working with Housing Collaborative, contact us to learn how to become a partner. Existing partners: thank you for your continued support! 

Learn more about current housing displacement news in the Charlotte community:

• Magnolia Senior Center: Nonprofit helps displaced seniors whose apartments were flooded after pipes burst
• Econo Lodge on S.Tryon Re-zoning: Residents have no place to go after Econo Lodge rezoned for new development
• JT Williams Community Purchase: How an investor plans to flip a low-income Charlotte neighborhood, double rents and make millions

The post ‘Charlotte is home’: An Affordable Housing Resource Guide appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

Here are a few areas to be extra attentive to when looking for housing:

Landlord Behavior

• A trusted housing provider communicates clearly and appropriately throughout the entire process. They should be willing to talk to you via phone or in person and readily available to show you the property before you commit. 
• It is also important to screen the housing provider yourself using online resources. We recommend searching their name, reading reviews of their existing properties, and checking public records. These records allow you to locate any previous complaints, foreclosure statuses, or criminal activity that may not have been disclosed to you beforehand. For Charlotte-specific residencies, we refer to the Mecklenburg County Property Records site for landlord searches. 
• Search the property address online – if it is posted on more than one website with different information, the scammer is likely just presenting someone else’s property as their own.
• If someone representing themselves as a landlord will only communicate with you via text, insists on you sending funds via CashApp or similar, pressures you to pay immediately, or tells you to just “drive by the property” because they are out of state, don’t proceed.

Payment Methods

Oftentimes, the most substantial scams that can arise from affordable housing searches are related to payments. A landlord should never ask you to: 

• Wire money
• Send your payment through an app
• Share your credit card information with them

A valid lease or application should be completed before any payment is submitted; this can protect you from sending money you may never be able to get back.

Trusting Your Instincts

You have your own best interest in mind, so trust yourself when things feel wrong. Visiting a property or communicating with your housing provider should be a secure and pressureless situation. We recommend undergoing research outside of the housing listing to ensure the “deal” you are being offered isn’t too good to be true. If the property is listed on multiple platforms and with different contact information, take extra precautions to ensure the residence and housing provider is legitimate. 

The post Nonprofits help tenants of motel find housing after eviction notices appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

Our support team is well-versed in the hardships of homelessness, displacement, and involvement with the criminal justice system that come from first-hand experience and understanding. A few of our employees have graciously shared their second chance journey with Housing Collaborative to help inspire others to keep pursuing their own comeback stories.

From incarceration to full-time employment:

“While incarcerated, I spent most of my time planning how I was going to get back out into the world and get back on my feet. I gave myself a goal date and I continuously revised this plan of action up until my release.

But the one factor I did not spend a lot of time on, however, was employment.

Having had several years of gainful employment under my belt and a college education, I figured getting a job would be the easiest step for me. Boy, was I wrong. 

In fact, I became so desperate for work that I started accepting offers for jobs that I am sure I was over-qualified for – jobs that offered pay that could barely support my transportation, let alone provide me the means to take care of myself and my young son.

I was referred to Housing Collaborative by an amazing case worker at Mecklenburg Reentry who saw first-hand my struggle to find employment that was not only sufficient for maintaining my household but that fulfilled my passion to give back to the community.

This company saw me for what I could offer, not the smudge on my background report. 

Housing Collaborative’s belief in second-chance employment is absolutely the number one reason I enjoy working for this company as much as I do.”

• J, Housing Collaborator since September 2020

From Prison to outstanding team leader:

“In August of 2010, I was released from Federal Prison to a halfway house with the obligation to seek employment. Finding employment was part of my requirement in order to remain in the halfway house which is the bridge between prison and home. If I was to work successfully, I could continue the program from home but the problem, as I was convicted of a felony, no one would hire me.

 I applied for jobs at every local restaurant, agency, and warehouse with no luck.

I spoke to one of my friends at Housing Collaborative who said, ‘we will be hiring a new training class in October.’ Happy was an understatement. When I began working, which I had not done on the outside of prison, I finally felt like I belonged back in society. I finally felt like I was doing the right thing. I was no longer selling drugs and tearing up the community but contributing. I knew I wouldn’t disappoint with this opportunity. I held on and tried to overachieve just to be appreciated, not knowing that I was already appreciated.

Having a second chance allows you to explore the new well-developed version of yourself. It gives you the opportunity to show others that you can and have changed for the better. 

Working here was a start to a new life, a new beginning, a new me. After working here for almost 12 years, and assisting others with their needs, I not only feel a part of the organization but appreciated!”

• T, Housing Collaborator since October 2010

The post United Way invests in housing, upward mobility initiatives appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

Here is a look at some of our most notable partnerships in the area:

DreamKey Partners 

In 2020, we as Socialserve joined forces with DreamKey Partners to create and administer a rent assistance program for Covid-effected households. The RAMP program was originally funded with 500k through local Covid-19 response funds, and has since delivered over $115M in assistance to date. Through this partnership and quick activation, we have been able to help residents retain housing and support property providers by ensuring rents were paid. This program would not be possible without aligning with DreamKey Partners, who reviews the applications for rent and utility assistance. Our role in the partnership as the distributor of approved payments has increased the number of property providers working with our housing placement program from 20 pre-pandemic to over 200 today.

United Way of Central Carolinas

The local chapter of United Way led the creation of Charlotte’s first collaborative Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs, which partner supportive service agencies with Housing Collaborative to quickly secure housing for households experiencing homelessness. At this time, 227 households have been placed through the program. This collaboration has allowed us to further position ourselves as both a key facilitator of housing access, and an administrator of ongoing rental subsidies.

Ascent Housing

In late 2020, we partnered with Ascent Housing, a platform of Ascent Real Estate Capital that is committed to preserving Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) properties. Ascent acquires NOAH properties using Housing Impact Fund financing, and keeps these options affordable by setting aside a percentage of units for households earning at or below 30% of the Area Median Income.  Through this partnership, we’ve expanded our properties for placement and match households to these set-aside units while also paying their rental subsidies. Through this partnership, Ascent has set aside 77 subsidized units across 4 properties for our referrals, and recently secured City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County support to acquire and preserve a fifth NOAH property, Peppertree Apartments.

We are proud of the impact we’ve had on the Charlotte community and our effort to provide housing solutions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. We look forward to expanding our local partnerships with organizations that share our mission.

Together, we strive to create a world where everyone can see a path home.

The post Judge’s temporary block leaves nonprofits in North Carolina uncertain about federal aid appeared first on Housing Collaborative.

Will has been homeless for two years. Recently, he’s been sleeping in a crawl space under a home near Uptown Charlotte.

He shouldn’t have been on the streets for so long. Last year, Will qualified for a federally funded Emergency Housing Voucher, given to vulnerable populations like those who are chronically homeless. The vouchers are distributed by Inlivian, Charlotte’s Housing authority.

Will and his caseworker Ed Smith, who works for the non-profit Running Works, spent months calling hundreds of different property owners. But because the affordable housing supply is so low in Charlotte, no one would accept his voucher.

Despite one door being slammed in his face after another, Will kept pushing.

Read the full story about Will Howard at wbtv.

The post Some former Lamplighter Inn tenants struggle to find housing a month after hotel closing appeared first on Housing Collaborative.