Agenda - 04-11-2000-5b - Laserfiche WebLink

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a~ Assistant professors and more. Also, about 16,000 of its students live off-campus with many of these occupying facilities in the community that once housed community and UNC service personnel. At the same time, UNC has considerable faculty expertise to help carry out community studies and develop a long range plan in an exemplary fashion. These faculty members are located for example, in the Center of Urban and Regional Studies, in the new Center for Public Service, in the Institute of Government, in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health and beyond. There are also experienced planners in the UNC administrative ranks who might work very constructively with counterparts in County and City Government. Beyond all this, but, Gust as important, the University has considerable potential to ..provide some land and some money (following the lead of Duke and Harvard) to address our own growing need for affordable housing in Orange County. During a recent conference in his. office, UNC Provost Dick Richardson commented that the University frequently had not been very active in community affairs in the past because of other priorities; however he recognized that the University has a special need itself to address this problem of affordable housing. Y was impressed that Dr. Richardson has, himself, been quite active in community affairs and that it was he who obtained a recent gift of $1,000,000 to activate the new UNC Center for Public Service. We should all welcome .the University's full-fledged involvement in addressing the County's affordable housing situation. Fu11 involvement in the study of need and in the development of the long range plan of action should lead to its active participation in the implementation of the plan. And, among other things; dawn the line when applications are made to Foundations, Governmental Agencies and selected corporate bodies for financial support, the University's signature on those applications would be a major asset. Z think County and City authorities would find that. Dr. Richardson would be a goad entry point in seeking to gain UNC's participation as a full partner in addressing the Orange County Affordable Housing situation. A11 the citizens of Orange County should be very appreciative of the current initiative of the County Commissioners and key Municipal. Officials in addressing the Affordable Housing issue. This could lead to a better life for hundreds of our most worthy low income citizens and a better community for all of us. Sincerely yours, Henry T. Clark, Jr., M.D.