Press Contact Only:
Margaret Matrone, NCHFA, 919-877-5606,
Connie Helmlinger, NCHFA, 919-877-5607,
Senator Tony Rand of Fayetteville and former Representative David Diamont of Pilot Mountain will be among those recognized at a Nov. 15 luncheon for their leadership in creating the N.C. Housing Trust Fund 20 years ago. The luncheon will celebrate the success of the Trust Fund and will honor the 2007 Housing North Carolina Award winners. The event will be held at the North Raleigh Hilton, 3415 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rand and Diamont co-chaired the Study Commission that recommended the creation of the Trust Fund to the General Assembly in 1987. Since then, the Housing Trust Fund has financed homes and apartments for more than 17,000 North Carolina households. Of those, 85% live on less than half the median income of their counties.
“The Housing Trust Fund helps us reach some of our most vulnerable citizens, including persons with disabilities,” said A. Robert Kucab, executive director of the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, which manages the Trust Fund and pays its administrative costs. “The Trust Fund has helped finance more than $100 million of supportive housing and has financed emergency repairs and accessibility modifications that have enabled nearly 7,000 elderly and disabled persons to continue living safely in their homes.”
Other architects of the Housing Trust Fund to be honored at the luncheon include:
- William C. Dowse, who first directed operations of the Trust Fund in his role at the Housing Finance Agency;
- Patricia G. Garrett, executive director of the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Housing Partnership, who was the first chair of the North Carolina Housing Partnership, which sets policy for the use of the Housing Trust Fund;
- Robert B. Jordan III, president of Jordan Lumber and Supply in Mt. Gilead, NC, who advanced the Trust Fund during his term as lieutenant governor, 1984 to 1988;
- Donald M. Saunders, who advocated for the Trust Fund in his role at Legal Aid of North Carolina and helped draft the legislation as a member of the Study Commission.
Following the Housing Trust Fund recognitions, the winners of the 2007 Housing North Carolina Awards will be honored. The awards will recognize excellent affordable homeownership, rental, and supportive housing properties in Asheville, Charlotte, Conover, Elizabeth City, Elkin, and Mooresville.
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The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency is a self-supporting public agency. It has financed 176,000 affordable homes and apartments in the last three decades, including nearly 74,000 homes for first-time home buyers. To learn more, go to www.nchfa.com or call 919-877-5700 or 800-393-0988.
