North Charlotte Today

Some portion of society has long struggled to find affordable housing, but that situation has worsened in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent inflation that is driving rental rates up, putting shelter out of the economic reach of more people.

Charlotte residents in need should know that Housing Collaborative is working to find solutions for the housing crisis by offering financial incentives to people who rent property. But the agency is looking to find more landlords to help them place people who need a place to live.

“Housing is foundational to a person’s success,” Tara Peele, president and CEO of Housing Collaborative, said in a Monday WCNC report. “A lot of times the affordable housing crisis can feel overwhelming and people feel like they can’t do anything about it. But what I do need people to know is if they do have a property they can do something about it, they can help at least one household.” 

Housing Collaborative is looking to achieve its goal of helping people who are trying to start over by taking a two-pronged approach. One avenue involves offering subsidies to owners of the rental properties.

“We actively are the ones paying the rental subsidies, we get to manage that process, so we get to pay quickly,” Peele said.

The second is to help would-be renters with application fees, security deposits and other initial costs. 

Housing Collaborative said it helped 10,600 households retain housing and helped 320 households find housing. The group has more than 200 housing partners, but it needs more in light of today’s mounting demands.

“Two hundred properties is a lot of properties to work with, but it’s just a drop in the bucket,” Peele said. “As far as we’re concerned, we need to work with more like 2,000 or 5,000 housing providers in order to meet the housing need in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”