Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

All right, we're live. Good afternoon. It is a wonderful day to have another convening of our Affordable Housing Committee. It is Monday, October 5th, and we are going to be able to get some important updates this afternoon. And as we call this meeting officially to order, I would like to start with the approval of our minutes for the Affordable Housing Committee meeting on June 22nd. If I may have a motion.

I make a motion that we approve the minutes as presented.

And a second. Well, I will second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. And no opposition. So we will move forward with this exciting agenda this afternoon. We have a number of robust topics. that we will cover to bring us up to date on some of the important initiatives that our affordable housing team is doing. And so I will start us off with our new Bridge to Home report. Then we'll get an update on manufactured homes, the system of care update, as well as Wake at Home. And so we will go ahead and start with our first presenter.

Stephen, would it be okay if we pause here before we go to the... to the implementation guide just to see if there are questions. And this is such exciting news. I was resisting the temptation to put the celebration emoji and the clap emoji on throughout. So thank you for sharing such wonderful news and showing us holistically and comprehensively how we can support our neighbors who have the most needs. This is really exciting. So kudos. And I will start with Commissioner Adamson.

Stephen, thank you so much for bringing this report today. This is exciting news. So we don't have to go back to the chart, but the chart that showed based on what income you have available for rent, that there's a point when certain income levels have a surplus. That doesn't mean those units are sitting around empty. I'm assuming that means that people are in them who are cost burdened, that we don't have all these units sitting around with nobody in it.

Thank you, Commissioner Adamson. We'll go to Commissioner Stallings.

Yes, I agree, Commissioner Waters. This is such a moment to celebrate, Stephen, and thank you so much. This is such great news. I know there's always work to be done, but a couple of questions. I know that the county has been working on gap financing and moving that deficit to be less of a deficit, and I know our municipal partners are as well. So is that sort of a... a signal that at least what we're doing seems to be working because i think about the housing stock available for our residents in this program you are finding housing but i i just wanted to get affirmation about that unless you

And then the second question out of curiosity, how did the Duke Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program become a partner in this work?

It just goes to show there's amazing community partners around, right? someone we least expect. Thank you for that.

Great question. I have the same question, Commissioner Stallings. And speaking of partners, you have a great list of partner agencies that cover all of the pillars that you listed. How do organizations tap into being a part of this work? Is there a process? Are you looking for more partners? Because there is so much need and with the comprehensive model that you're using. I just wondered if you are welcoming new partners and how they can be a part of the work.

Well, thank you. You've got an impressive list already. And so look forward to continuing to see the updates. And I really appreciated the slide that lifted up that these numbers all represent individuals, our neighbors that were able to help and the entire process, which looks at even the smallest things that can mean so much to families getting established and resettled, the home furnishings, all of those things make a real difference. And so really appreciate all the thought. And so we'll move on to the last part of our presentation.

Well, we are so fortunate to have such a great housing team. And I'll tell you all of the things that the team does to really make every individual feel seen and heard is just invaluable. So thank you for the care that you take to serving vulnerable neighbors. And it looks like, Chair Miles, you have a question?

Not a question, a comment. Of course, I just want to thank Mark and Stephen for coming on and doing a great presentation. And as you know, housing is always at the top of our concerns here in the county. So We just certainly appreciate all that you guys are doing. I mean, you know, it's ongoing work, and we just appreciate you. Thank you so much.

And a true example of many hands making light work. And so there are many hands that often we don't even see. And so please express our appreciation to all those on the housing team and Morgan in her absence. We are truly, truly grateful. Any last-minute questions before we transition? Well, thank you again, Steve, and look forward to the next update. And it looks like we are ready to transition over to our update on manufactured housing in Wake County.

Next slide. And the next one, thank you.

Yeah, I think this is a good time to pause and I see Commissioner Anderson.

Sarah, if this is not a good time for this question, we can switch it to whatever's best in your presentation. During the pandemic, when we were delivering all the vegetable boxes, I took a Friday route and delivered to two mobile home parks out between Roseville and Zebulon. And I was shocked at the condition of those mobile homes that I saw. A lot of them had windows out that just had boards covering it or plastic bags. And generally, I just left the boxes on the porch and left. But there was occasionally residents that would open the door to get their boxes. And what I was so surprised abou

And the other two challenges I found a lot of the residents had was their water was supplied by a neighborhood community well. And the prices were unbelievable. They were you know, what they were paying for water. And, of course, I'm assuming we check that in some form since it's commercial to make sure it's clean. And, you know, they're not getting contaminated water, but if it breaks, they would be without water for days or weeks. And the other challenge I noticed the residents had was predatory towing practices, right? where tow companies would come in and tow vehicles. And I actually witne

You know, I mean, I could see rusted through places and, you know, just from the outside. And... I guess the other challenge is when we've looked at relocating mobile homes, if it's more than a certain age, you can't move it because it'll fall apart on transit. So that's another challenge with the mobile homes.

Thank you, Commissioner Adamson, for lifting up those really important points. And that's one of the... reasons that this topic is so important, although it represents a smaller percentage of our neighbors, but definitely shows some vulnerability and some needs where we can really be intentional. And if you look at the map, you see lots of communities spread throughout Wake County. So it's an issue that it's good to have some eyes and ears to be able to look for some solutions. And Commissioner Stallings, I'll go to you.

Thank you. I'm looking at your slide. And Sarah, welcome, by the way, to Wake County. Yes. Thank you. It's good to see you. Good to meet you. I'm looking at your slide about the zoning in Wake County and how you show the variability among municipalities with zoning issues related to mobile homes. And I'm curious, given that the county often serves as a convener and a bridge builder of conversations on affordable housing, And given that mobile homes are a form of affordable housing, I was just curious if there's any room for conversations at the county level with our municipal partners on strea

I think this is a good stopping point. And thank you, that is so much information and very helpful. We'll start with Chair Miles and then Commissioner Evans.

Thank you so much. And sir, welcome to Team Wake. Just a comment that I wanted to make. I'm glad that you guys are taking the time to look at the manufacturer at home. I haven't grown up here in Wake County. At one time, we had a bunch of them around throughout the county. But I know the last few years that there has been a drawback to some in terms of location. I think there's one still located off of Garner Road. Tara, I think that's Commissioner Waters that's in your district. And I know there's several out here in my district here in the eastern part of the county. But then I know that one

Thank you, Chairman. Absolutely. It is an area where we can certainly put some attention and Commissioner Evans and then Commissioner Adelson.

Yes, thank you for this report. I do think this could be a better utilized model for some of our citizens, but I know our land in Wake County is very attractive to developers, but You probably said this at the beginning, but could you clarify me, have both houses, federal government, approved the Road to Housing Act, or is it just one or the other?

Okay, okay. But I am excited to hear that there's a possibility for them to be able to qualify for FHA mortgages and so forth. I wonder if that would change the definition of how we treat mobile homes for other things or modular homes. I happen to be a former owner of a mobile home in another community, but I know that and other people might not know that that's treated like personal property. You pay property tax on it like you pay on a car. And because you oftentimes don't own the land, as has been highlighted, it's not treated as real estate per se. I wonder if all of a sudden you can get a

Well, thank you for bringing this forward today. We can't leave any stone unturned for looking at possible ways for affordable housing. But I know from a lot of our mobile home parks, they deal in currency, right? The people pay their rent in cash and that kind of stuff. So some of them maybe don't have all the documentation they need for government programs. So I'm assuming... that to take advantage of these programs, if they come forward, you have to be a citizen or have a green card.

I think that's a reason some of our citizens end up in mobile home parks is they have a tendency to be private owners and sort of the cash thing and sometimes unfortunately they are taken advantage of because of that. Hence the towing and you know that kind of stuff. But thank you.

Well thank you. So much good information and it Looks like we have a section on a actual community that you can lift up how that community was supported.

Well, Andre, thank you so much for being the quarterback to bring all of the partners together in your tenure had just started. I didn't know I was going to need tissue this afternoon, but my heart feels overflowing with joy to see how neighbors were really cared for and to hear some of the great outcomes. that you are able to achieve for families who, as you said, were giving up a lot more than their residents. And so thank you for the care that Neighborhood took in helping to give a new reality to the families. And I don't know if Chair Miles has a question. Chair Miles, are you still with y

Yeah, I'm sorry. It is. I didn't take my hand down. But Andre, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much for what you did. Thank you, sir.

Well, I did want to just weigh in with my thanks to Andre and the larger community that was engaged around this effort as one who lives in care of community and watch this unfold over the last couple of years it it really warmed my heart um and and as has already been voiced you know um it's not unusual for a community like this to end up um getting sold for development I've lived in the Cary area long enough that I can remember when we had other mobile home parks, but I think this is probably the last one that we had. But primarily, I wanted to highlight that I had the good fortune to be at t

Andre, I just wanted to echo the thank yous because you really took up the mantle of if not me, then who? If not now, then when? And I'm sure as new in your position with all the administrative stuff you were trying to learn, you sure didn't plan for that to be you and now. But thank you for picking it up and doing such a fabulous job. I know this is... Unfortunately, this is going to continue to happen as... The owners of these mobile home parks who a lot are elderly, their families inherited and don't want to run off and, you know, that kind of stuff. This is a great model to see what we can

Well, kudos. And we are so fortunate to have NeighborUp in our community and appreciate the insight that you have to help establish a blueprint should this be an issue that we face in the future. So thank you for your time and also Thank you to Sarah Kirk, who is new, but came in just full throttle to help us navigate so much in the affordable housing space. So thank you, Sarah, and look forward to continuing to work with you. And it looks like Commissioner Stallings almost missed your hand there.

That's okay. I'll be really quick because I just want to echo the thank you and the gratitude. Andre, you are such an example of for our community. And I think because of your reputation and the reputation of Dave Rupp is why this was so successful because you draw in the community partners. So thank you for being the point person for this. Thank you for your heart for service and for all your staff. And I know this was difficult, but you made it such a happy ending for these families. And I just want to say, we just appreciate you so, so much for all that you are in our community.

Absolutely. and look forward to having more updates from you in the future. And as we transition to our next topic on the agenda, very fortunate to have another Continuum of Care update. Always good to have Eileen Bosa with us to give us the latest. I'll kick it over to you.

Well, thank you so much for the update. It's been amazing to see the progress in such a short time and your leadership is key to that. So thank you. Thank you. And I see Dwayne, you have your hand up.

Well, thank you so much for highlighting that. It is quite impressive. Eileen being very modest about all the good things that are happening. We are so proud and truly appreciative of what this means for so many of our neighbors. And I'll see Commissioner Adamson.

Thank you. I just wanted to congratulate you for getting the first homeless encampment housed. I feel like that's really a huge accomplishment and the first step on a very long journey. But I know we get a, at least I do in community meetings, I always... get the homelessness and the housing question. And it's great to say we're on a path. If you'd like to join us, this is how you can do it. And these are the agencies you can work with. And we've got the first encampment housed, which is a huge milestone. Thank you.

And Manager Ellis, and then let's see, Andre has his hand up as well. Perhaps manager Ellis has his hand up in error. So we will go over to. Oh yeah.

Thank you. Thank you for the recommendations. Easy to get on board with great ideas.

Thank you for that. And Manager Ellis and Dwayne, be sure that we hold on to Eileen because she's highly regarded and highly sought after. And so I'll kick it over to Commissioner Evans.

Yes. And thank you, Duane, for adding that context. But I just wanted to weigh in as someone, you know, Commissioner Adams and I have been on this board a while. And, y'all, the COC was just in one big mess a few years ago. It was just one big mess. And we didn't know whether it was the right thing for Wake County government to take it over initially. But Lorena McDowell, in all her wisdom, said, and dedication felt like it was the right thing to do. And she sold it to the COC board. And we are just forever thankful. And we know that the long-term picture might be something else, but we are so

Thank you. Thank you. We echo those sentiments. And I believe Eileen has more good news to share with us as we go through the last part of our agenda. I do.

Well, that is quite a bit of life-changing work that you have shared with us. I'm really appreciative of your leadership and what you've been able to achieve and the blueprint that you have established. I have one quick question before I go to my colleagues. When working with the encampments, were there any needs that were a surprise to you and in terms of having a holistic approach to helping neighbors transition? Were there any surprises? And what does those partnerships look like that you perhaps needed to establish based upon things that you may not have anticipated?

Well, thank you for remaining flexible and nimble to meet people where they were. And I don't know, Manager Ellis, if you still have your hand up from earlier, if you'd like to chime in. If not, we will go to Commissioner Stallings and then We will go to Commissioner Adamson.

Thank you, Commissioner Waters. And, Eileen, I just want to underscore, too, all the kudos to you. And David and Duane were so excited when they announced that you were coming. Your reputation preceded you getting here. I just want you to know that. And so you're living up to all of that by the tangible work. And thank you so much. And I'm looking forward to continued success. congratulations on getting that first encampment um those folks into housing and my question about wraparound services for those residents um i believe i read they will there will be wraparound services for some time is

Great. Thank you so much. And then finally, for people in the community who want like a main number or a main website, you know, I know there's a no wrong door approach, right, that we're trying to demonstrate. But is there a central COC number or website that you would want the community to have if they needed it?

Thank you. That's where I was headed because we, in the community, we hear a lot about my friend, my neighbor, my cousin, whoever is about to be homeless. Where did they go? Now that email, where do you find it on the website? If I was to go to, because I'll never remember it, but if I was to say, okay, I'm going to send you a link to our website, where am I finding that email address and instructions?

Yes, I quickly found it. So thank you. And then I just wanted to state for the public that we do have resources before you actually end up homeless. We've talked about... know in this section what we do once you're unhoused but hopefully folks can get to you and get help before they actually become unhoused but thank you this is i would have never guessed we'd be this far along at this point as commissioner evan said what we've been through the last years with this process and this is really exciting thank you i appreciate that and just one note on the on the prevention piece you know prior

Well, colleagues, this has been an enriching afternoon. I'm so grateful for the updates that we received. Thank you to all of our presenters this afternoon. I think we have so much to celebrate, so much to cheer for, and so much to be proud of. So I hope everyone who is here will respectively share the appreciation for all of our colleagues who are unable to be on the call, but who are doing tremendous work to ensure that our neighbors have the resources to access and maintain affordable housing. And so on that note, I will call this meeting adjourned and hope everyone has a good rest of the d