The Gift Of Housing
The house donated by Hogan and Hillary Fulghum is stripped of the brick facade prior to transport to Enderley Park.
The glow of giving to others at the holiday season dissipates all too quickly. Yet the gift of housing lasts long after decorations are stowed away and New Year’s resolutions forgotten.
This holiday season, some individuals and congregations bestow the remarkable, enduring gift of housing upon neighbors and strangers, a holiday giving guide to inspire us all.
As recently reported in the Charlotte Observer, Hogan and Hillary Fulghum donated their 1950s single-story house instead of bulldozing it when building their dream house. The West Side Community Land Trust transported the gifted house to Enderley Park for sale to a family at an affordable price, while the land trust retained title to the rapidly appreciating property now beneath it.
In another example, architect Catherine Monroe asked her client about including some lower-priced apartments in their 250-unit rental development planned in the University City area. With no financial subsidy, the client set aside five percent of the new units for affordable housing.
A retired physician, Stephen Valder owns seventeen rental units in Charlotte. He and his wife Odette choose to keep their rents affordable and accept housing vouchers, despite rising market rates in the surrounding neighborhoods. Valder says, “I can provide stable housing at a modest return that sustains my investment, even though I know I could charge more.”
My family contributes to non-profit agencies that move their clients into market-rate housing using rental subsidies coupled with social services: The Relatives for young people barely 18 years old, often living in their cars; the Salvation Army for women and children living in its shelter; the merged Urban Ministry Center/Men’s Shelter for single adults in their shelters or Room In The Inn; and Charlotte Family Housing for homeless, working families.
Individual giving in examples such as these transforms lives with sustainable housing. Collective giving magnifies our impact on the affordable housing shortage in our community.
Consider the transformative gifts of these houses of faith:
Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church is building forty affordable homes in duplexes and quads on their church property. When neighbors voiced fears and doubts about the prospective development, a bus tour of other properties managed by the developer turned neighborhood adversaries into allies, and even into a few applicants for Mayfield’s upcoming development.
Christ Episcopal Church owns two Myers Park duplexes that house families moving out of homelessness. Fifteen families have cycled through these duplexes over the past seven-plus years on their journey to financial stability, with the help of trained social workers and affordable rents.
Covenant Presbyterian is loaning $2 million at below-market interest to The Mezzanine at Freedom Drive, facilitating deeper subsidies for many of the apartments. Congregant Jessica Mallicote shares her family’s perspective on the church’s capital campaign: “Of course, we all have household budgets, but this campaign is a chance to share God’s abundance, rather than worry about our scarcity.”
As housing costs continue rising faster than wages, the poorest among us live on fragile budgets that too often end in eviction and homelessness. As tax rates for the wealthiest Americans decline precipitously and government support declines for those in poverty, the faith and philanthropic sectors become increasingly critical resources for keeping our neighbors housed.
Can your house of prayer contribute land, or housing, or funding to create homes for the least among us?
How can you too give the gift of housing?
Judy Seldin-Cohen edits the monthly blog series FaithInHousing.org/blog and co-authored the book Recharging Judaism. She also serves as board chair for A Way Home, a $26 million housing endowment at Foundation For The Carolinas.