Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville has been awarded nearly $30 million in federal grant money to assist the nonprofit group’s work at Southwood in Albemarle County, a 120-acre trailer park-turned-mixed use development.
The Charlottesville Habitat learned on Dec. 19 it would be the recipient of $29,151,778 from the newly-formed Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement program under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It was the second-largest of 17 grants awarded to organizations nationwide, totaling some $225 million. Those 17 beat out 158 other applicants.
“This award represents an incredible investment in Habitat’s work at Southwood and, perhaps most importantly, is a tremendous vote of confidence in how we partner with the community,” the Charlottesville Habitat Vice President Michelle Wamsley said in a statement. “This award is one piece — albeit a significant one — of the entire funding puzzle that will, over time, make the promise of redeveloped Southwood — at a projected total cost of more than $500 million — a reality for our families in this resident-led community without displacement.”
The nonprofit homebuilder has been working to shore up existing infrastructure and build more affordable house at the former Southwood Mobile Home Park it acquired in 2007. The group made the acquisition in order to prevent the mass displacement of the 1,500 residents who lived at the trailer park off Old Lynchburg Road, just south of Charlottesville and next to the recently opened Biscuit Run Park.
Since purchasing the Southwood property, Habitat has made it a priority to not evict any resident throughout the duration of the redevelopment, expected to take until 2037.
“We want to keep the families who want to stay here while their homes are being built to be able to,” Kelly Eplee, the group’s director of donor relations, told The Daily Progress last August. “We are working our hardest to ensure everyone stays housed, and so far we have not run into many issues.”
The extensive rehabilitation prioritizes critical repairs as well as expanding the housing stock by more than 1,000 new residences. This will eventually add more than 500 units of affordable housing to Charlottesville’s market, which is the second-most expensive real estate market in Virginia and has been in a self-described "housing crisis" since at least 2009.
The Charlottesville Habitat had poured more than $25 million into Southwood prior to the recent grant. Both of Virginia’s senators, Democrats Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have secured millions in federal funding to support affordable housing development across the commonwealth, including $1 million for Southwood in April 2023.
“Every Virginian deserves access to safe, affordable housing,” the senators said in a joint statement announcing the local grant last week. “We are glad that this federal funding will help support homes and communities in Charlottesville, and we will keep working to support housing accessibility throughout the Commonwealth.”
More than 22 million people live in trailers nationwide, most of whom own their trailers but not the land underneath. It is why the Charlottesville Habitat’s long-term vision for Southwood is to hand over complete ownership of the community to those who live there.
“We want to help these families finance and eventually own their home so they can start building equity,” said Eplee last year. “These are some of the hardest working people in our communities, and it is time to help them break out of the cycle of having to constantly rent subpar property.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com