We are in the midst of a global pandemic and its economic fallout that has disproportionately hit communities already struggling to afford safe and decent housing. Rents and mortgages were due yesterday, and too many families in our state still have not figured out how to pay them. The North Carolina Housing Coalition has been hard at work getting HB1200 filed, which includes $200 million in desperately needed mortgage, rental, and utility assistance. This work is critical to stabilizing our communities, and it needs your voice to push it through. Click here to learn more about how you can make the most impact in securing HB1200’s passage.
We are in the midst of a global pandemic with an unprecedented number of North Carolinians facing the loss of housing — and yet we cannot look away from the calls for justice for Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. These calls have been ringing out week after week, year after year, decade after decade with name after name after name. If you have heard me speak around the state, you have most likely heard me say that you cannot tell the story of housing in this country without telling the story of segregation. To quote a colleague of mine, “a direct line connects America’s history of racist housing policies to today’s over-policing of Black and Brown communities. The same line connects to racial inequities in housing and homelessness, to chronic disinvestment in Black and Brown communities, and to people of color being disproportionately harmed and killed by disasters… to COVID-19.” If you’re looking for resources to better understand the direct connection between housing policy and institutional racism, a good place to start is with “The Making of Ferguson” by Richard Rothstein, or his book “The Color of Law.” To better understand this moment and what it demands of us as Americans, I would also recommend Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to Be An Anti-Racist,” or his conversation with Diane Yentel on “Racial Equity During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The mission of the North Carolina Housing Coalition is to lead a movement to ensure that all North Carolinians have a home in which to live with dignity and opportunity. We stand in solidarity with those seeking justice for their communities and their children – seeking the dignity and opportunity they have long been denied.
