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    Advocacy

Advocate

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

Budgets are a concrete reflection of our values. Right now, our local leaders are deciding how to fund our public priorities.

Our County Commissioners and members of City Council have invested our tax dollars generously in affordable housing. Some of those investments help Asheville Habitat build and repair homes. These leaders deserve our thanks. They also deserve our support. I have watched them wrestle through impossible choices as the number of funding requests for affordable housing exceeds available resources.

Everyone deserves a place to call home. Our representatives need to know that we don’t believe that they should have to choose between funding emergency repairs or new development; between homeownership, affordable rental, and caring for those experiencing homelessness.

Let your representatives know that housing MUST remain a priority as long as 1 in 6 of our neighbors pays half or more of their income to keep a roof overhead. If you live in the City of Asheville, please write or call your City Councilors and encourage them to increase the allocation to the Housing Trust Fund and commit additional funds to support new approaches to affordable housing. Throughout Buncombe County, contact your Buncombe County Commissioners and urge them to continue to grow the Affordable Housing Services Program.

Our neighbors shouldn’t have to choose between the cost of home and meeting other basic needs. Our elected representatives shouldn’t have to choose which of our critical housing needs goes under-funded.

Also, if you have not already done so, sign up for our Advocacy Alerts email by clicking here. Or, get important advocacy alerts via text messages. Just text buildlouder to 51555 to sign up. Thank you!

Cost of Home

Across the nation, 1 in 6 households spend half or more of their income on housing. That means, 1 in 6 families are denied the personal and economic stability that safe, decent and affordable housing provides and are forced to make impossible choices. A safe home. Nutritious food on the table. Health care. Access to good schools. Reliable transportation. Which would you choose?

When the cost of home is your family’s future, the cost is too high. And when the cost of home is any family’s future, that’s something none of us can afford. We also know this problem is not just in Western North Carolina, but across the country. That’s why Asheville Area Habitat is joining hundreds of Habitat organizations across the country for our first national advocacy campaign- the Cost of Home.

As we fight in Buncombe County for smart housing policies hundreds of other Habitats will be doing the same. Through the Cost of Home campaign we will aim to improve home affordability by promoting policies at all levels of government that will expand resources for home production, increase inclusive access to credit, enable equitable access to land, and develop communities of opportunity.

Family-Friendly Affordable Buncombe

The sale of Mission Hospital is estimated to bring in $15 million in tax revenue to Asheville City and Buncombe County. The Family-Friendly Affordable Buncombe initiative is proposing strategic investments in preschool, frequent and reliable transportation, and affordable places for working families to live and grow. We aim to build a more prosperous community for all.

Family-Friendly Affordable Buncombe is an initiative by the Asheville-Buncombe Preschool Planning Collaborative, Success Equation, and the Asheville Regional Transit Coalition to leverage the unique opportunity provided to our community by the sale of Mission Health in order to make our region more affordable for Buncombe County families and workers.

About Advocacy at Asheville Habitat

Advocacy is defined by Habitat for Humanity as “changing policies and systems to eliminate barriers to adequate, affordable housing in order to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live.” In other words, while not visible like homes themselves, laws, regulations and rules about land and building are a major part of housing. Smart policies and systems can promote access to decent housing, while uninformed policies and systems may create unnecessary barriers, making it harder than it needs to be to find land for construction, build the home itself or be able to afford a place to live. Just like building, advocating for smart policies and systems is a way to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

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Use Your Voice!

If you would like to use your voice to help Habitat and support smart housing policies, please sign up for our Advocacy Alert email list and/or text alerts. These lists enable us to mobilize our supporters to act quickly on issues that are important to our organization and the people we serve. From your mobile phone, text buildlouder to 51555 to register for text alerts. Click below to sign up for the email list.

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Past Advocacy Efforts

  • 2017 National Housing Week of Action
  • HOME & CDBG
  • Affordable Housing Crising in Asheville
  • Save HOME Save Service (AmeriCorps) Access to Credit
  • annual North Carolina Legislative Day in Raleigh
  • annual Habitat on the Hill in Washington, D.C.

WNC Resources

The WNC Social Justice Advocacy Guide provides a comprehensive list of resources and allies around Western North Carolina dedicated to addressing social justice. This collection of nonpartisan organizations and nonprofits is for those wishing to learn more about specific issues, to establish connections with other groups, and to peruse volunteer opportunities. The Jubilee! Community’s Social Justice team began this site in 2018.