Affordable Housing

Affordable housing is one of my top priorities. It is a multifaceted issue impacting the quality of life of many Durham County residents. The new growth has left many individuals and families displaced or strained financially. I dedicate my energy to advocating and advancing efforts and initiatives that provide housing to our moderate and low-income residents.

The City of Durham and the Durham Housing Authority lead the government response on housing with the Forever Home, Durham program. This $160M multi-year investment is funded by a $95M affordable housing bond and $65M in existing City and federal funding. The goals of this program are to build 1,600 new affordable rental homes and preserve 800 affordable rental houses, move 1,700 unhoused individuals and families into permanent housing, provide 400 affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income homebuyers, help 3,000 low-income renters and homeowners remain in or improve their homes, and create at least $130M in contracting opportunities for minority and women-owned business enterprises.

I am very proud to be a part of our Durham County leadership that has created a model to leverage County-owned land parcels to build affordable housing units in the East Main Street Corridor for households earning between 30% to 80% of AMI. We were able to move quickly to garner community support and revise policy to make this significant investment. In addition to providing affordable housing, this project will provide childcare and commercial space in a walkable area close to public transportation.