Our State, Our Homes

An 18-month program to help communities develop capacity, analyze challenges, and implement strategies to address affordable housing and related issues in North Carolina.

Launched by Carolina Across 100 with support from the Development Finance Initiative and other campus partners.

The application deadline has been extended to November 22, 2024 to give communities time to react and respond to the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

NC keychain opening door
NC keychain opening door

North Carolina’s Housing Challenges

More than one million households in North Carolina are housing cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing. This includes nearly one in five homeowners and almost half of the state’s renters. With limited supply, rising costs, and other issues, meeting local needs for safe, accessible, and affordable housing is a challenge for community leaders.

Meeting this challenge is critical for the state.

OSOH Data Viz

Economic Growth

North Carolina is the third-fastest growing state in the country, with more than 300,000 people moving from out-of-state each year. Access to affordable housing is critical to economic development; without a reliable, local workforce, communities may struggle to attract employers.

Household Prosperity

Rising housing costs leave North Carolinians with less money available to pay for other needs like food, transportation, childcare, and more. In 2022, the U.S. median “residual income” (amount a household has left over after housing costs) hit a record low of $310/month.

Health

The availability of safe, quality housing affects health outcomes. Public health experts say that your zip code, not your genetic code, is the most important predictor of long-term health.

Homeowners and Renters

28% of total households in North Carolina are cost-burdened, including 19% of homeowners and 48% of renters.

Across the State

In every county, the total percent of cost-burdened households is between 17% and 47%.

Shortage vs. Available Rental Units

for Extremely Low-Income Households in North Carolina

Shortage vs Available Rental Housing

Displacement Impacts

of Unaffordable Housing

OSOH Data Viz

Housing is a statewide challenge, but each of our communities faces unique issues, including:

Any or all of these factors can contribute to housing needs in our state’s communities. But each community also brings its own assets and resources that can be leveraged to meet this challenge.

Carolina Across 100 is launching an 18-month program supporting a group of community collaboratives seeking to improve access to and availability of affordable housing options in North Carolina.

About Our State, Our Homes

Carolina Across 100 seeks applications from communities that are interested in working across sectors to improve access to and availability of affordable housing options in the state. Teams will build collaboratives within their communities and benefit from peer learning from one another. Together, we will work to better understand the context and challenges of affordable housing and related issues, as well as design and implement strategies to respond effectively. 

Communities that wish to apply for the program must submit an online application by November 22, 2024

Benefits to Communities

Participating communities will emerge from the eighteen-month program with a deeper understanding of housing issues in their local contexts, tools to improve community conversations around housing needs, maps of local partners and assets, and increased knowledge and capacity to implement strategies for improving housing affordability. Program learnings will be shared publicly to help additional communities in North Carolina address their housing needs.

Carolina Across 100 will support teams with the following:

Resources

that strengthen their existing programs and services, including data tools and evidence-informed strategies to promote affordable housing

Deep Expert and Peer Support

through five peer-learning forums and regular webinars during which teams will develop their goals, make implementation plans, and collaborate across sectors to work toward their goals effectively

Robust Technical Assistance

from experts on affordable housing and cross-sector community collaboration led by Carolina Across 100, the Development Finance Initiative, and other experts

Funding

on a limited basis to support project management and implementation, as well as cover costs associated with participation in the program

Community Selection

A panel of Carolina Across 100 representatives will select a cohort of communities to participate in the 18-month program. Communities may apply as individual county teams, a municipal county partnership, or a multi-county collaborative. Teams will be selected based on the following criteria: 

  • Identification of a core team composed of individuals from different sectors 

  • Demonstration of community commitment through at least three letters of support from different sector partners and community stakeholders 

  • Prior experience working on housing issues, particularly through cross-sector approaches 

  • Understanding of vulnerable populations in their communities, factors that contribute to affordable housing challenges, and barriers to quality, availability, and access to affordable housing in their context

  • Diversity of geography, economy, and demography among applicant communities

Note: The selection panel will prioritize applicants from counties that have not yet participated in any prior Carolina Across 100 programs. To see which counties have previously participated in Carolina Across 100, please view this map.  

Your Commitment

After selection for the program, the core team identified in the application will identify the full community team (local collaborative). The composition of these teams can vary from community to community; however, we expect that each collaborative will include stakeholders from a diverse set of sectors, all committed to active participation in the program. As part of the program, Carolina Across 100 will support teams in identifying additional stakeholders to participate. Carolina Across 100 strongly recommends that at least one local government entity (municipality or county) be represented on each core team.

Each community collaborative must be prepared to meet regularly over the course of the program to develop and implement a clear strategy that (1) leverages existing assets and activities, (2) increases the availability, quality, and alignment of community resources for affordable housing, and (3) addresses barriers to meeting community housing needs, especially for more vulnerable subpopulations.

Our Partners

Participating communities will benefit from the expertise of UNC faculty and staff who specialize in housing and related issues. The Development Finance Initiative will be our primary subject matter expert for this endeavor.

DFI is a program of the UNC School of Government that partners with local governments to attract private investment for transformative projects by providing specialized finance and development expertise. Since its founding in 2011, DFI has partnered with over 200 communities to attract investment for development projects that accomplish local goals. In addition to assisting communities with downtown revitalization, neighborhood development, historic adaptive reuse, and other locally defined interests, DFI has worked with urban, suburban, and rural communities to provide technical assistance related to the development of housing for low- and moderate-income households. DFI’s technical assistance includes housing needs assessments, tailored educational workshops, identification of sites appropriate for affordable housing development, and pre-development feasibility analysis, as well as assisting local governments with the recruitment and identification of qualified private development partners.

In addition to DFI, this program will engage other UNC faculty, staff, and students from Kenan-Flagler Business School, School of Medicine, School of Government, Dept. of City and Regional Planning, and more.