Charlotte Journalism Collaborative

Finding Home: Helping Homeless Students By Supporting Their Families

February 25, 2020

By David Boraks February 13, 2020 Here’s a No. 1 ranking you don’t want: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leads North Carolina with the largest population of homeless students — more than 4,700 last year. A new program by two Charlotte agencies aims to help some of those students by getting their families…

With Lake Arbor About To Be Sold, Judge Backs Tenants’ Legal Request

February 25, 2020

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative

By David Boraks February 13, 2020 All but one tenant has moved out of the run-down Lake Arbor Apartments in west Charlotte after the owners ordered everyone out to make way for renovations. But a legal battle with the landlords continues, and tenants last week won a round — just…

Big Impact with a Small Footprint: Veterans Project Is Building Community While Fighting Homelessness

February 10, 2020

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, QNotes

Site of Veterans Community Project, Longmont, Colo. (Photo Credit: Chris Rudisill) By Chris Rudisill FEBRUARY 7, 2020 In the last issue of qnotes, we looked at the Beloved Community Village in Denver, a tiny home village that provides transformational housing for people experiencing homelessness. Our trip out west also took us to…

Big Impact with a Small Footprint

January 30, 2020

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, QNotes

By Chris Rudisill JANUARY 24, 2020 Freddie Martin, someone who is classified as ‘housing insecure,’ calls Beloved Community Village home as he works toward finishing his degree at Metro State University. (Photo Credit: Chris Rudisill) Freddie Martin, a student of history and anthropology, talks to me outside his home in…

Seattle program makes homes affordable in a pricey market. Is it a model for Charlotte?

December 10, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, The Charlotte Observer, Uncategorized

By Lauren Lindstrom The Charlotte Observer SEATTLE Susan Zeman and Bob Downing immediately found a lot to love about their two-bedroom townhouse in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood. They loved that they could stay in the same community where they’d lived for years and formed close ties. She loved that they…

West Charlotte is rapidly gentrifying. How this nonprofit wants to make homes affordable.

December 10, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, The Charlotte Observer

By Lauren Lindstrom The Charlotte Observer Charis Blackmon doesn’t have to look further than the ground beneath her feet to see change happening in Enderly Park. The West Side Community Land Trust, where Blackmon is executive director, bought the Tuckaseegee Road plot last year for $16,000 as the future site…

Where do you live when you’re gay and gray?

November 20, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, QNotes

BY DAVID AARON MOORE JULY 26, 2019 There’s a story I recall as a younger gay man I’ve heard repeated a few times over the years since, in some form or another. Two elderly women, who had shared the same home for most of their adult lives, had begun to…

Charlotte could allow townhomes, duplexes, triplexes in traditional single-family neighborhoods

November 12, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, WCNC-TV

Author: Nathan Morabito Published: 6:07 PM EDT November 8, 2019 Updated: 6:07 PM EDT November 8, 2019 With 84% of residential land in Charlotte zoned for single-family homes, there’s an effort slowly gaining momentum that could eventually allow more affordable townhomes, duplexes, and triplexes in the city’s traditional neighborhoods. As…

When Charlotte’s employers raise minimum wages, contract workers are often left out

October 29, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, The Charlotte Observer

By Pam Kelley Charlotte Observer There’s been good news on the Charlotte wage front in the past couple of years: Some of the city’s largest employers have announced significant minimum wage increases – as much as $17 an hour at Bank of America and $16 for city of Charlotte employees.…

‘One job should be enough’: How Charlotte’s low-wage jobs make housing unaffordable

October 29, 2019

Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, The Charlotte Observer

By Pam Kelley Charlotte Observer Consider Charlotte’s affordable housing crisis as a math problem. Housing costs are too high. Wages are too low. How do you solve it? So far, the community has focused on half the equation, raising and spending tens of millions to build and subsidize affordable units,…