Cheri Lewis chairs the board of advisors for a new "workforce" housing fund that she says will "be in existence until infinity."
The terms may not sound sexy—gap funding, down payment assistance, no-interest loans—but for many who have contemplated buying an area home, those concepts have an immediate attraction. Such home-buying vocabulary was on everyone’s lips September 28 at the official launch for the Thomas Jefferson Community Workforce Housing Fund. It’s the latest effort to address “affordable housing” issues for the middle-income earners, those with yearly household incomes roughly between $40,000 and $70,000.
“[Affordable housing] is a multiheaded monster that we need to address in many different ways,” said Cheri Lewis, who chairs the fund’s board of advisors, on the steps of Venable Elementary School—chosen, she said, to symbolize the workers who will be helped by the fund.
The new “workforce” housing initiative takes over and expands a fund run by Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR). Their fund, started in 2004, assisted only teachers, nurses, firefighters and police officers; the new fund will assist any local worker with a yearly household income that approximates area median income.
A private-public partnership, the fund takes money from City government, Coun-ty government, businesses, nonprofits and any other source that wants to donate. Qualified homebuyers would go through a counselor at Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA), a local nonprofit. PHA will help them qualify for a loan and assess what funding assistance is available. When the buyer sells the home, a percentage of the equity would return to the housing fund.
In two years, CAAR’s fund assisted seven families. Concerning the new fund, Lewis says, “We’re going to be in existence until infinity, so whenever we say how many we’d want to help in a year—I’d love to help hundreds and hundreds. In our first year, I think 20 is a really good goal.”
Local government leaders voiced their support at the launch. “This is not a city issue, it’s not a county issue—it’s really a big community issue,” said Charlottesville Mayor David Brown. “I’m really pleased it’s being seen that way.” Dennis Rooker, chair of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, also praised the joint effort.
Dave Norris, a City Councilor whose election campaign featured afford-able housing, likes the fund but says, “It’s not for the working poor, certainly…. We can’t stop here
—this is one piece of an overall effort to address the affordable housing challenges that go far beyond the needs of certain classes of professionals.”