North Carolina Families Benefit from HUD Programs and Builders of Hope's Innovative Affordable Housing Model

GREENSBORO - Builders of Hope, a Raleigh-based nonprofit affordable housing developer, is transforming blighted properties into energy efficient, healthy homes for North Carolina families earning below the area median income. With Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding provided to Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte, Builders of Hope is using their Extreme Green Rehabilitation Process to rehabilitate homes, implement a work mentor program and provide green construction jobs to residents. All of these outcomes are a part of Builders of Hope's mission to increase the availability of high-quality, safe, affordable housing for working families. "HUD's NSP is rebuilding the current economy and helping to build the green economy of the future. The Builders of Hope projects are a great example of how this is working across North Carolina," remarked the HUD Field Office Director, Christian Stearns.

Raleigh units rehabilitated by Builders of Hope in their Extreme Green Rehabilitation program.

In Raleigh, Builders of Hope rehabilitated a vacant, blighted 40-unit apartment complex that was a striking example of the distressed and deteriorated state of low-income housing across the country. Builders of Hope not only retrofitted the units, but also delivered units that were energy efficient and met the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC's) LEED criteria. All units have bamboo flooring, newly upgraded kitchens, foam insulation and come with a heating and air conditioning guarantee of $25/month. As a result of a partnership with AT&T, every unit also has wireless internet service. Backing up to the greenway and bus line, within walking distance to the middle school, the rehabilitated apartment building exemplifies transit-oriented development and sustainability.

One of the tenants (pictured here) is a veteran. He was a tenant in the blighted apartment complex and was delighted when Builders of Hope enrolled his older unit in their Extreme Green Rehabilitation Program, retrofitted the unit and relocated him to into the green, energy efficient unit.

Veteran describes energy efficient retrofits carried out by Builders of Hope.

Veteran admires new energy efficient appliances his newly-retrofitted unit.

As a part of their work in Raleigh, Builders of Hope offers a educational/mentoring program to train residents in landscaping and other green construction trades. This program trained 36 individuals as a part of their Barrington Village project. All of the trainees were low-income; 26 were African American; 6 were Caucasian; 3 were Hispanic; and one was an American Indian/Alaskan Native.

Worker trained by Builders of Hope begins rehabilitation of unit in Raleigh.

In Charlotte, Builders of Hope will use their Extreme Green Rehabilitation Program to rehabilitate 23 vacant townhouses in Rowan Park Apartments and also retrofitted single-family homes that were boarded-up and vacant. They will incorporate their successful Work Mentor Program into each development, providing green job training to individuals with barriers to employment. In partnership with the Department of Corrections, the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Workforce Development Board and the Center for Communities in Transition, this program offered viable employment opportunities and the promise of a new life to ex-offenders.

Newly rehabilitated Rowan Park Apartments in Charlotte.

According to Nancy Murray, Chief Executive Officer of Builders of Hope, "The delight and new-found hope on the faces of previous tenants who are now relocated to their newly renovated, LEED-certified apartments tell you everything that you need to know - the program is working and the NSP subsidy allows these families and many like them to live, some for the first time in their lives, in a safe, healthy environment that they can affordably, sustainably call home."

Proud owners of newly rehabilitated unit in Raleigh.

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