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Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB) Meeting Agenda November 14, 2022, 6:00 PM Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill Louise Beck room 04 S Estes Dr, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Orange County Housing updates: Rapid expansion of programs over the last few years. Some is COVID response. Some filling longstanding gaps. Had different funding appear—a lot is COVID related. In 2019 there were only 12 employees; now we have 45 (25 started in 2022). Had a lot of turnover. Most of us are very new. 5 directors in 7 years. There’s been a lot of firefighting over the years. Trying to organize/write things down as we go. Currently have 6 positions open; 4 will start Monday. Focus in dept is not just WHAT we do, but HOW we do it. Incorporating Trauma-informed care (TIC) and ACES. Understanding that behavior is not the person—but a trauma response. Important when dealing with both clients and ourselves. Something the collective “we” doesn’t talk about is building TIC into programming. Housing Helpline has very structured breaks built into the structure of that program in very intentional way. Treating everyone with dignity and respect doesn’t cost a dime. This hasn’t always been a hallmark of the dept. How racial equity plays a role in housing. Housing is built on the foundation of white settlers stealing and building on land. If we don’t have data by race, we can’t understand what’s happening or how to fix it. Partnership to End Homelessness Homelessness #s are worse than ever. Homelessness lags behind economic crisis because people will do anything they can to avoid it (first exhaust their resources, then friends’ and families’). • Holly talks about residents in her neighborhood who have been through a lot. At first Holly was told that her grandson could come stay with her for 6 months if needed; now they’re cracking down on visitors staying for only 14 days out of a whole year. Management forced out a client’s sister who had cancer. • Mae says they had a community meeting. Lives off Jones Ferry in Carrboro where there are encampments of unsheltered folks. SOHRAD has already been called in. Mayor of Carrboro said he wanted to bring up to the council to increase the number of staff for SOHRAD. It’s an issue that the phone line isn’t available 24/7. SOHRAD is fully staffed but there are other gaps like Rapid Rehousing (RRH) that could be filled. • Jenn says unsheltered folks in Hillsborough know where to get resources (the business community is aware). A lot of the businesses are not members of the chamber. • Paul comments re: Holly’s comments: It may not be a management issue; may be a HUD issue to prevent folks from Airbnb. EDP can help folks better understand their leases/what their rights are. Partnership: A lot of HUD funding is allocated to organizations outside of the county that have to jump through hoops. Partnership helps them jump through said hoops. Ending homelessness isn’t just a dream; other communities have done it. Goal is to rehouse people within 30 to 90 days. Partnership also has direct services such as RRH, which pairs financial assistance and case management. Highly flexible based on what the family needs. Want to make sure we give them the perfect amount of time/assistance. Trying