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Orange County Mobile Home Parks: Proposals from a Racial <br />Equity Lens <br />Shodeah Kelly, Julia Corbett, Ariella Hirsch, and Lucas Risinger <br />Executive Summary <br />Orange County, in cooperation with the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, seeks a proposal for <br />how to use funds allocated to assist residents of mobile home parks at risk of being displaced by <br />development. We outline two proposals for the use of these funds and analyze both using a racial equity <br />lens. The Orange County Health Department and Family Success Alliance conducted a survey of eight <br />mobile home parks in the area and we largely rely on these data in our proposals; in the survey results, it <br />is clear that the residents of the mobile home parks strongly preferred remaining in their homes and <br />communities. <br />To address these strong preferences, our first proposal indicates that the Towns and Counties <br />should partner to purchase the land of mobile home communities at risk for displacement. This proposal <br />increases racial equity by ensuring that the majority Hispanic population of these parks will be able to <br />remain in their homes and on current land, thereby maintaining access to services, transportation, and <br />schools, which surveyed individuals cited as important reasons for remaining in their current locations. <br />This proposal would substantially benefit the residents of mobile home parks facing displacement. <br />However, this proposal would also place a significant financial burden on the Towns and Counties tasked <br />with purchasing the land. <br />Our second proposal recommends the relocation of residents of Chapel Hill and Carrboro mobile <br />home parks to other pre-designated, town-owned parcels of land. This proposal is less preferred under a <br />racial equity lens given that it would force the relocation of marginalized and vulnerable populations. <br />Although this proposal places a burden on the residents, it takes into account their preferences. The <br />pre-designated parcels of land would ensure that residents remain within Chapel Hill and Carrboro, <br />ensuring that their children remain in the city school district. Further, remaining within the towns would <br />help alleviate concerns over access to transit and other services. This proposal would also place a <br />significant burden on the Towns and County in that it would be costly to build the infrastructure for new <br />mobile home parks and to move residents and their trailers. <br />Both of our proposals include measures for ensuring accountability including conducting <br />follow-up surveys with the Orange County Health Department and the Family Success Alliance <br />throughout the implementation process as well as after the process. <br /> <br />2