Wilmington forum brings faith, community leaders together to tackle housing crisis

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Faith and community leaders gathered in Wilmington Tuesday to discuss the growing need for affordable housing in New Hanover County and connect people struggling with housing with local resources.

The third annual Faith and Housing Crisis Forum was held at the First Baptist Church Activity Center and organized by One Christian Network.

For David Taylor, the issue is personal.

Taylor spent nine years living on the streets of Atlanta before eventually finding stable housing. He has now been living in his own place for the past six months.

“Fighting between homeless and habits, it gets harder over time. And I said, hey one weekend, I said hey, I’m out of here and next thing I know, I blinked and it was nine years,” Taylor said.

On Tuesday, Taylor was helping others looking for assistance during a resource fair held as part of the forum.

One Christian Network Executive Director Emma Baltezore said the idea for the event came after Hurricane Florence, as the organization saw housing challenges in New Hanover County getting worse.

The forum focuses not only on people experiencing homelessness, but also residents struggling to afford their current homes.

“So we know that 35% of New Hanover County residents are housing cost burden, which means they are paying more than a third of their income and 55% of renters are paying more than a third of their income,” Baltezore said. “And so we know this is an issue when market rent is $1600 for just a 2 bedroom, which most people can not afford.”

Wilmington has around 3,800 affordable housing units, according to information shared at the forum.

Corey Gee, communications manager for Rescue Mission of Cape Fear, said the shortage can make it difficult to find permanent housing for men after they complete the organization’s program.

“It’s a 9 day program, but we find that it’s still hard to find permanent housing, affordable permanent housing in the community, We don’t want to just put them back out on the streets,” Gee said.

Baltezore said there are ways faith groups and community members can help, including sharing an unused room with someone in need or creating an accessory dwelling unit on their property.

For Taylor, helping others find their way forward is personal. After spending nine years without a home, he hopes his experience can show others that getting off the streets is possible.

This was the third year for the Faith and Housing Crisis Forum, with more organizations joining the effort to expand affordable housing across the Cape Fear region.