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HENRY T. CLARK, J~R., M.D. R~VrU ~ ~ ~ ~. 5 ~ ~ ~ a a <br />#198 CAROL WOODS <br />75U WEAVER DAIRY ROAD <br />CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA 27514 <br />TEL: (919) 918-3619 <br />March 13, 2000 <br />To the Orange County Commissioners: <br />I am writing to comment on the shortage of Affordable <br />Housing for many law income residents of Orange County and~to <br />suggest some steps to improve that situation. <br />Several weeks ago Y wrote a "letter to~the editor" of <br />The Ch~el Hi11 News which was published in its January 30, <br />2000 issue.. ~~Later~, on March 12, that newspaper published an <br />editorial about Affordable Housing which 2 fully endorse. T <br />am attaching copies of both as background for the following <br />commentary. <br />Few people in Orange County today will question the fact <br />that we have a large and growing. problem in Orange County in <br />providing affordable housing for many of our low income citizens. <br />An ABODE report of July 1999 documents that need for segments <br />of our population in specific terms. However, the ABODE study <br />did not measure the full scope of the problem or recommend <br />the steps to resolve it <br />Fortunately, the County Commissioners, .with the support <br />of municipal leaders of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, <br />are now taking steps to identify the scope of the needs, the <br />barriers to fulfilling those needs, and the strategies to <br />overcome those barriers. Hopefully, this will lead to the <br />development of a long range (10 year) plan to meet the need. <br />It seems inevitable that in the course of upcoming studies <br />and planning activity the good work that has been performed <br />by a number of agencies, both voluntary and governmental, in <br />recent years to meet some of the affordable housing needs will <br />be fully recognized and those agencies will be uxged to continue <br />and expand their activities« It also seems inevitable that <br />the studies will reveal a need which cannot be met by relatively <br />small incremental steps but will require an additional thrust <br />from a coordinated community-wide effort. <br />Tn starting out to address this complex issue I strongly <br />urge the Commissioners and municipal officials to ask UNC-CH <br />to join their coalition in sponsoring the study of need and <br />in developing the long range plan. <br />My thinking in this regard is- essentially this: the <br />University is by far the. largest employer in the County with <br />a work force of over 10,000. Many of its own personnel have <br />a serious need for affordable housing, e.g. housekeepers, nurses, <br />technicians, administrative support personnel, instructors, <br />