It’s not just Asheville. In a region where abject poverty and mansions rub shoulders, about 10,000 households rely on housing assistance to survive
Above: the numbers of public housing units and housing vouchers in each county in WNC. Chart courtesy of Carolina Public Press
As many of our readers know, the changing state, challenges and grassroots organizing going on in public housing are a major story, and one we’ve covered extensively in Asheville, especially with journalism non-profit Carolina Public Press. Starting in early January, CPP backed a month-long series on issues in public housing, starting with the problem of a sharp — and unexplained — rise in evictions in Asheville’s public housing system, home to 3,100 people.
But public housing and the issues that drive the need for it are a reality across WNC, an area that includes, in the words of one long-time housing director “abject poverty right around the corner from some of the most expensive single-family developments in the state.”
The first piece takes a look at the sheer scale of the region’s public housing and voucher assistance programs, drawing from the official numbers from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development and talks to representatives of public housing authorities. Since 2009, the numbers of public housing and vouchers in WNC have stayed relatively flat, while the need has grown: many programs have extensive waiting lists and according to some estimates, only one in four families that need housing assistance can get it. Due to federal budget cuts, some agencies can’t even issue all the vouchers they’re authorized to. In addition, the departure of manufacturing jobs and an increase in housing costs across the region have all increased the need as well.
Importantly, we also break down how housing authorities work, as despite their names, they’re not under the direct control of local government (though those governments play a role in determining their board) but independent agencies that receive federal funds and have broad authority over the developments and programs they own and manage. There’s also a list of resources of public housing and section 8 agencies in WNC.
Also, while many see it as an urban phenomenon, public housing also exists in places like Murphy and Hot Springs, and there’s section 8 housing in every county in the region. But rural public housing — something local leaders once thought impossible in WNC — faces many unique challenges. The last piece delves into the differences with its urban counterparts, its complicated history, the obstacles it faces and how agencies are trying to find some way forward.
I’m glad our readers are interested in this important topic, and hope these pieces help to give them a glimpse of issues that affect not just thousands of Ashevillians, but people throughout the whole region as well.
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