A hub of non-profit organizations who help people with finding affordable housing has opened in Greensboro. Governor Roy Cooper was in the city for the grand opening of the Greensboro Housing Hub, Thursday.
The hub, the first of its kind in the state, is a coalition made up of six non-profit groups such as Community Housing Solutions, Greensboro Housing Coalition, Habitat for Humanity, Housing Consultants Group, Partnership Homes, and Tiny Houses Greensboro. The Housing Hub works like a storefront; a one-stop shop for various options for finding affordable housing and owning your dream home.
"We are helping transition people from homelessness into apartments and then into homes," said Maria Hanlin, the chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity Greater Greensboro. Hanlin added that thousands of housing units are still needed to cater to the demand in the county.
The hub is set up specifically to target residents of Guilford County who fall into a low-income bracket and have had difficulty with saving towards better housing options.
According to the Housing Hub, their goal is to increase collective capacity beyond the 6,000 low-income people currently served. They plan to not only provide low-income housing but also education and job training services. The groups said 55% of the households in Greensboro are low income and more than 35,000 families spend more than 30 % of their income on housing.
"Housing is more expensive in urban areas and in rural areas, there's not enough housing so it's a statewide problem," said Governor Roy Cooper.
Homeowner Keisha Cunningham-Dockery said the program has benefited her and she doesn't have to pay rent.
"When I first got my habitat home I didn't have a car so I had to ride a bike out to the site to build my house," said Cunningham-Dockery who added that she moved out of her old neighborhood for safety reasons.
The hub is located at 1031 Summit Avenue.