Habitat Cville - Cost of Home

The neighborhoods and communities we reside in have a profound impact on our health and well-being. Social and economic conditions can influence physical health by impacting the resources available to individuals, including safe places to exercise, ability to breathe clean air, access to outdoor spaces, and walkability to medical care and grocery stores. Additionally, mental well-being has been tied to stable housing as secure housing can lead to lower levels of stress, depression, and anxiety.

Another fun challenge for you we're calling the "What Is" game. Let us know your guess!

Don’t forget that the Albemarle Planning Commission is meeting in just two weeks, on April 26th at 6 PM. Please come out and aid us in making sure Southwood can move forward with phase 2 of redevelopment!

If you need more information about Southwood, the meeting, or anything else, shoot Amy an email at [email protected].

True or false? Comment your guess...

To learn more about this neighborhood and its history, check out Timeline's excellent article called "In 1965, the city of Charlottesville demolished a thriving black neighborhood."

Stable and decent affordable housing can have a prominent impact on childhood development as stress, poor ventilation, and pests can have detrimental effects on the physical health of youth. Paying too much for a place to live can lead to financial depletion that could otherwise be invested in children’s education and well-being. Boston College’s Rebekah Levine Coley and Tufts University’s Tama Leventhal note, “By building and restoring safe, clean and healthy housing, Habitat works to eliminate children’s experiences of substandard housing, thereby supporting their growth and development”.

Reminder that UVA’s Apprenticeship Job Fair is happening TOMORROW from 9:30-11:30 AM! This is a great way to demonstrate your interest & learn about hands-on fields like carpentry, masonry, and HVAC!

Interested in carpentry, masonry, plumbing, or related work? The University of Virginia offers apprenticeships in ALL of these fields open to every skill level!

UVA’s Facilities Management office is hosting an Apprenticeship Job Fair on April 12th from 9:30-11:30 AM in UVA’s Alumni Hall. Hope to see you there! 🧰🛠️🚧

We're back with another interactive way to test your knowledge about affordable housing! This time, we're playing three truths and a lie. Comment what you think the lie is!

On April 26th at 6PM the Albemarle Planning Commission will be hearing from residents in the Southwood about plans for Phase 2 Redevelopment. Habitat has been proudly partnering with Southwood for over a decade. Redevelopment is critical in ensuring every resident has a permanent place to live.

If you’re able, please join us and voice your support for Phase 2 Redevelopment! Email [email protected] for more information.

Experience the Cost of Home 1 in 7 households in the U.S. pay half or more of their income on a place to live, an issue only heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our interactive Cost of Home experience, you can walk through the decisions a household has to make as they work to cover all their other costs. Could you hel...

Test your affordable housing knowledge with this fun interactive quiz. Comment your best guess, and the winner(s) will be shouted out in our stories!

“Here in Virginia, 1 in 6 families spend more than half of their income on housing, and there’s still not enough of it. For every 10 families who need affordable housing, there are only 4 homes available. In Charlottesville, there are 1,000 people on a waitlist for an affordable housing voucher, and there’s a shortage of 4,000 homes.”

VPM News Focal Point | The struggle to find affordable housing in Charlottesville Residents grapple with limited options as rent and home prices continue to rise.

The Cville Tool Library opens TOMORROW! Swing by 1740 Broadway Street any time from nine AM to noon to support the organization and take advantage of the great resources it’s offering to our community. We're so, so stoked for this launch and we hope you are too! 🤩🤍

As climate change continues to intensify in 2022, affordable housing and housing stability falls increasingly under threat as climate-related disasters have left homes devastated by irreparable damage. Households of color experience a disproportionate amount of damage from such climate-related disasters, leaving individuals and communities to face recurring financial and emotional harm. Additionally, after climate-related disasters, households of color also face barriers in receiving funding to rebuild their homes. In turn, the demand for affordable housing only continues to increase. Read the article linked below to learn more.

The Devastating Effects of Climate Change on US Housing Security - The Aspen Institute As climate change disasters increase, American’s financial security—particularly housing stability—will be threatened.

Interested in learning more about how to improve affordability and zoning policies in Charlottesville? Livable Cville has extended an EXCLUSIVE invitation to speak with Dr. Schuetz, a nationally recognized housing expert TODAY from 5:30-6:30 on Zoom. If you’re an aspiring advocate, you don’t want to miss this⚡Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/can-zoning-create-a-more-affordable-charlottesville-tickets-271407456007.

Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville? Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute will discuss how local zoning can help to provide affordable housing to more Americans.

Tomorrow we will learn from Dr. Jenny Schuetz about how zoning can help make Charlottesville more affordable. Everyone interested in addressing the Charlottesville area’s affordable housing crisis is welcome.

Please sign up here to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/can-zoning-create-a-more-affordable-charlottesville-tickets-271407456007

Households of color face greater housing unaffordability and insecurity due to historic patterns of racially restrictive housing covenants, gaps in generational wealth, and continued lack of access to credit and opportunities for affordable housing. However, equity in housing is achievable through programs and policies aimed to produce affordable housing and tools for housing stability. Click through the attached slides to learn more about housing equity issues and solutions.

Since 2012, the cost of housing in Charlottesville has risen nearly 5% each year while housing options for high wealth households have increased. The current Charlottesville affordable housing crisis is a direct result of Charlottesville’s long history of intentionally zoning neighborhoods to segregate based on race and class, and to limit the ability of low wealth people of color to build wealth through property ownership. Read more about the impact of racism on affordable housing in Charlottesville by clicking the 2020 report below by the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition.
https://www.justice4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Housing-Report-FINAL.pdf

The final phase of the Cville Plans Together project is updating Charlottesville’s zoning map. Zoning is the body of laws regulating how many and what kind of buildings, including houses, can be constructed in particular areas. The committee in charge of the updates is meeting March 2nd, 2022 from 5-6pm to draft a schedule for the zoning rewrite, and this meeting is open to the public! 🏚️✏️🏛

Check out this page for more information: https://mailchi.mp/22ad8ce73ad7/project-update-14137109?e=d35fe8ac13

There is no jurisdiction in the Commonwealth that has enough affordable homes. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is one of the few tools we have to address the need. Habitat for Humanity of Charlottesville urges you to let our state delegate know you support investments in this resource. We urge you to call the office of Sally L. Hudson or find her on social media.

Charlottesville officials have begun working on the city’s Zoning Ordinance Rewrite, the third part of the Cville Plans Together Program, in order to increase housing density. Officials plan to compare current zoning ordinances to those referenced in the Future Land Use Map (pictured) to create a new potential zoning map. Stay tuned for opportunities to provide input in the future. https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/charlottesville-officials-have-started-work-on-the-citys-massive-rezoning-project-with-the-goal-of-increasing-housing-density/

There is no affordable housing without equitable housing legislation and programs. The Virginia House and Senate are deciding THIS WEEK on how to budget these programs. We encourage you to join the Virginia Housing Alliance Tweetstorm THIS THURSDAY, 2/24, at 12 PM. At that time, just tweet at state delegate Sally L. Hudson and state senator Creigh Deeds saying that you support investments in affordable housing with the hashtag .

For more details on the Tweetstorm, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1duRDd8MBfNK6l5skclUGdIw3xS4vZbjPAohXgaUj2ds/edit.

Housing is out of reach for many of our neighbors. In Charlottesville, a household needs to earn $50,640 annually to comfortably afford a two-bedroom home (NLIHC). Many important members of our community—including our elementary school teachers, nursing assistants, and truck drivers—earn below this threshold on average. Please support investments in housing resources.
Sally Hudson Creigh Deeds

We are proud to announce our first event on zoning in Charlottesville: Dr. Jenny Schuetz from Brookings Metro will be speaking via Zoom on zoning and affordability. Mark your calendars for Wednesday March 16th from 530-630pm. Registration info to come next week.

Dr. Schuetz is a nationally recognized expert on housing policy. A Blacksburg native and UVA grad, she is uniquely qualified to speak about how Charlottesville can use zoning, including tools like inclusionary zoning, to address our housing crisis.

She is the author of the recently released book, "Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems," with practical ideas to provide affordable housing to more Americans. We highly recommend ordering a copy! https://www.brookings.edu/book/fixer-upper/

Here is an interview with Dr. Schuetz that just came out recently: https://slate.com/business/2022/02/housing-crisis-jenny-schuetz-fixer-upper-interview.html

This event will be a great opportunity to learn and elevate the housing conversation in Charlottesville as we move into the Zoning Rewrite phase of the Cville Plans process. We look forward to seeing you there!

Livable Charlottesville I just signed up for updates from Livable Charlottesville: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-189

This new article from Cavalier Daily is a great synopsis of how Charlottesville’s housing crisis has come to be. It covers the history of housing in Charlottesville, where we are at today, the University’s role, and recent developments in working towards a long-term solution. If you are unfamiliar with the housing crisis or would like to hear more about the University’s plans, check out this article.

Charlottesville’s affordable housing crisis: A long time coming It is not a coincidence that the housing crisis places an unequal burden on minorities  — it is the result of structural racism ingrained in the city’s housing market. 

Check out the linked resource and timeline to learn more about housing discrimination and inequality in the United States from the 1940s to the present.

Historic housing discrimination in the U.S. Too many among the general public aren’t aware that the egregious racial disparities in America that exist today — in education, employment, health and wealth — are linked to Black families’ exclusion from accessing decent and affordable shelter – something we all need to thrive.

Did you know that affordable homeownership improves access to quality education, promotes wealth building, supports better long-term health, and increases social engagement? Read the full brief below to learn more about all the positive outcomes associated with affordable homeownership.

Research series: Outcomes associated with homeownership Improving affordable homeownership leads to numerous outcomes that extend beyond the house to areas ranging from community engagement to education​​​​​. This evidence brief provides an overview of how families can prosper with greater access to decent, affordable housing.

https://www.charlottesville.gov/civicalerts.aspx?AID=985

3D printed houses, or “Homes of the Future”, could be a break-through solution to the nation’s housing and labor shortage. With short construction periods and minimal crew members needed, 3D printed houses have low production costs while guaranteeing homeowners a resistant structure. Read more to learn about this innovative technology, and how Habitat is utilizing it to address the affordable housing crisis.

Virginia family gets keys to Habitat for Humanity's first 3D-printed home in the US Christmas came early for one Virginia family that just received the keys to their new 3D-printed home.

Watch the linked video to learn more about the schedule and community engagement plan for the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Project, the third part of the Cville Plans Together Program.

After decades of being the most prominent Black neighborhood in Charlottesville, Vinegar Hill was demolished and its residents displaced after the city of Charlottesville employed eminent domain to redevelop the area. The short documentary “That World is Gone: Race and Displacement in a Southern Town” tells the story of Vinegar Hill’s destruction and its lasting effect on Black homeownership in Charlottesville.

That World is Gone — Field Studio Watch the film—"That World is Gone" is the story of Vinegar Hill, an historically African American neighborhood in Charlottesville, Virginia. Winner of the Audience Award for Short Documentary, 2010 Virginia Film Festival.

Did you know that homeownership is a key contributor to wealth building? Read the brief below to learn more about building home equity and key barriers to homeownership.

Research series: How does homeownership contribute to wealth building? For low-income households and households of color in the U.S., homeownership can be a catalyst to wealth building. In this evidence brief, Habitat takes a look at how these gains from homeownership vary by income, gender and race/ethnicity.

Launched in 2019 by the City of Charlottesville, Cville Plans Together is a multi-year project to update the city’s comprehensive plan for future development, create an affordable housing plan, and rewrite current zoning ordinances.

HFH of Greater Charlottesville - Influencing the Future of Our Community with Cville Plans Together This video provides a brief insight into the process of Cville Plans Together and how the Charlottesville community can get involved, especially the Habitat ...

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 17 million households in the United States paid half or more of their income on housing. As the pandemic continues to affect the jobs and lives of millions across the country, housing insecurity only continues to increase. To understand more about the complexities surrounding the cost of a home, play the “Cost of Home Experience” game below.

Experience the Cost of Home 1 in 7 households in the U.S. pay half or more of their income on a place to live, an issue only heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our interactive Cost of Home experience, you can walk through the decisions a household has to make as they work to cover all their other costs. Could you hel...

Launched in 2019 by Habitat for Humanity, the Cost of Home Campaign is a five year national advocacy campaign with the goal of mobilizing local Habitat organizations, partners, community members across the country to find solutions and help create policies that will allow 10 million individuals to have access to affordable homes. To date, the Cost of Home Campaign has already helped more than 4 million people access decent housing through advocacy on local, state and federal level. Everyone deserves a foundation for a stable, healthy future for themselves and their families- no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they earn. Together, we can make the cost of home something we all can afford.

Cost of Home 1 in 6 families pay half or more of their income on housing. Take a stand with Habitat for Humanity as we advocate for policies to improve housing affordability.

Hi Everyone! We would like to welcome you to the new and improved Charlottesville Cost of Home Advocates page in partnership with the Education and Advocacy Committee at UVA!

Families across the United States are paying too high a price to cover the cost of a home. The inability to afford safe, stable housing impacts all aspects of our lives including health, education, public safety, and economic stability. The purpose of this group is to provide a platform for sharing information and calls-to-action regarding Habitat Charlottesville’s advocacy, as well as resources to learn more about the many complexities surrounding the cost of a home.