Durham Housing Plan Kickoff Webinar Sept. 16, 2026

Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. We're going to give folks a moment to come in from the waiting room before we formally start. Again, if you're just logging on, thank you so much for joining us this evening. We're just letting folks come in from the waiting area and get logged in this evening. All right, good evening again. Thank you so much for joining us this evening for a webinar from the city of Durham on its affordable housing plan investment strategy. Um we're happy to have you here. This is our public kickoff meeting tonight. Before we go into formal welcome and introductions this evening, we have a couple of meeting logistics that we'd like to cover. Just to orient everyone to uh this evening's presentation. If we can go to the next slide, we're going to walk through a couple of um logistics for how to participate in tonight's webinar. Um before I do that, we are offering interpretation services in Spanish this evening. Um, so I want to turn it over to our interpreter, Martado, um, to give an explanation of how that will work for participants who need it. Martado. >> Thank you, Latoya. Yes. Hi, everyone. My name is Mortado, and I will be providing interpretation from English to Spanish. So, bear with me for a moment while I make an announcement in Spanish. Chat instruction global interpret. That's all for me and I send it back to you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Martaro. So, a quick couple of quick logistics for how to participate this evening. Um, we are going to have a brief presentation followed by facilitated Q&A. Um, this webinar will run until 8 o'clock and we want to get everyone out of here and back to their evenings on time tonight. Um, to participate again, we'll have a presentation to start us off and then we will do facilitated Q&A. There are going to be a couple of ways for you to participate in that. For those of you who are joining us via computer or via the Zoom app, we're going to ask you to put your questions in the Q&A box. So, if you look at the bottom of your screen, you'll either say see a Q&A box or you will click the three dots and you should see in there a three dots more and then a menu of options and you'll see a Q&A in a box with a question mark. We're going to ask you to put your questions in the Q&A box, not in the chat box, please. So, please use the chat box only if you're having a technical issue, you can't hear someone, something to that effect. If you are joining us by phone, you're going to be able to use your phone controls to raise your hand and we can then unmute you to be able to ask a question verbally. We will go back over this as we get to the Q&A portion later in the meeting, but just to go over that now. For phone participants, you will dial star 9 to raise your hand and then star six to unmute or we will prompt you to unmute yourself. But what you really need to remember is star9 to raise your hand. And if you are leaving early this evening or you know someone who could not make tonight's webinar, we are recording this um so this will be made available on the city's website um for everyone to view and listen um after tonight's meeting. So with that, I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to assistant city manager Carisha Wallace from the city of Durham to formally welcome everyone and open up tonight's webinar. Thank you so much Latoya and good evening everyone and thank you so much for taking time out of your Wednesday evening to join us in this very important discussion. Um I'd like to uh start by introducing some key members of the the project team that are on the call this evening and I I'm going to start with the staff and housing and neighborhood services department. Uh starting with the director Sarah Vinas uh followed by assistant director Alexis John and then we have Richard Valzanis who is the senior project manager uh as well as Bridget Stevens who is our affordable housing manager as well as uh Scott Powell who is our newest member of the team and fiscal manager in housing and neighborhood services. So, thank you for help to housing and neighborhood services staff for uh your role in this important work. And then for our partners with HRNA advisors, we are joined this evening by Sharon Carney who's the principal as well as Emily McInn who is an analyst with HRNA. And then our leading community engagement partner with Brick and Story. Uh we have Latoya Thomas who you've heard from. Latoya is the founder and principal of Brick and Story. And then we have uh Vivy Janie uh who's the assistant project manager. So again uh that's the team that will be leading us through this discussion this evening. And so um thank you. Thanks again for joining. Well, good evening everyone. Again, as uh assistant city manager Wallace said, I'm Sarah Vinius and I'm director of housing and neighborhood services. We're so excited to have you all join us for the formal public kickoff of our new affordable housing plan process. Um, so tonight what we're hoping to accomplish is to give you brief background about this project and a little bit of context around why we're doing this and why now. Um, and then HRNA and our partner at Bergen Story will give you more information about the project overview, timeline, um, and engagement opportunities. So, opportunities for you to be involved in the process. And then we'll spend much of our time with facilitated Q&A, which Latoya gave you um, detailed about how to participate. Please again put your questions in the Q&A unless you're on phone um and you'll have an opportunity to come off mute and then we'll close by um talking about next steps. So to talk briefly about project background and context. So why are we doing a new affordable housing plan? As many of you know the city has had a long-standing commitment to affordable housing. Uh this is one of the council's major priorities. It's a community priority and it's something that the city has made significant investments in for a long time and we have important progress that we want to build off of. The Forever Home Durham uh timeline has now concluded. That was our last housing plan and we've made a lot of progress through that effort. Our 2019 $95 million affordable housing bond is now committed to projects and we now need to chart our next chapter. Um the housing market has changed dramatically over the last several years particularly through the pandemic and the need for affordable housing persists and has even increased locally. Um, behind that need, we know that their residents making difficult choices about where they can live and whether they can stay in the community that they call home. So, meeting this challenge requires creativity, um, collaboration and a comprehensive approach across the city. This plan will help us focus our collective efforts and resources to build a Durham where everyone has affordable, safe, and fair housing. So, now let's talk about what will be included in the plan. Um so we're going to begin by learn uh learning from our previous work um and understanding today's needs through market data and from the experience of residents and housing providers. Um together we'll identify priorities for producing and preserving affordable homes and helping residents remain stably housed. We'll develop an investment strategy um that makes the most of our resources and identifies what resources are needed to implement the plan. And just as importantly um we'll explain how to put the plan into action. So who's responsible, what comes first, and how we'll measure our progress. Success will depend on the knowledge and commitment we bring to this effort together. Our goal is a plan that guides uh real decisionmaking and creates meaningful opportunities for more Durham residents to find a home um to stay in their neighborhood and to build their future here. So with that uh brief context, I'll now turn it over to our partners at HRNA to Sharon to um talk about the process and what's uh what engagement opportunities there'll be through the plan. >> All right, thank you Sarah and good evening everyone. Um so how do we go about creating an affordable housing plan? Um our next slide is going to show three key phases and this is um these are the basics of how we undertake um this big challenge. The first phase is really about understanding the needs and starting to set goals. So we're going to be looking at what housing is needed, the physical housing, but also what do residents need? What are residents experiencing? In the second phase, we're really going to dig deep into understanding the tools and the resources that are available, how effective they are, and which ones can most effectively address the needs that have been identified in phase one. And then in phase three is where we really get into the action plan. And as Sarah said, this will include an implementation strategy that has very clear assignments for leads and timelines for completion. Um, and throughout this whole process, um, understanding where residents are experiencing housing challenges, understanding perspectives on from practitioners about how certain programs are working will also be informing each of these phases. And so that's why this community and stakeholder engagement line is um underscored through each of them. So let's go to the next slide and a little bit more detail here on phase one which is our understanding needs phase. So this is where we are now and will last for the next couple of months. This is the phase where we're asking questions like how much housing must be produced and preserved at what affordability levels and you know so what's it going to cost? what should it cost in order for people to be able to afford it? And then another key question is what are the priority housing needs that residents are experiencing? We'll be launching the process as we are tonight to engage folks and create a variety of ways to do that. And by the end of this stage, what we'll be able to understand is where efforts should be targeting production and preservation and stability. And by stability, what we really mean is do folks have the ability to remain in their homes. Um, so in the next phase, phase two is where we really start to assess the tools. So these are programs, policies, funding mechanisms, and also staffing that is necessary to addressing housing needs. So the key questions driving this phase are what kinds of tools can have the most impact? Um what kind of staffing and capacity is needed to implement the action needed to address goals and where might public land um and other resources help to advance some of these goals. Um our focus here for engagement is going to be on understanding the how. So the tools, the implementations, the programs and the policies and we'll build on the engagement by talking to um folks who invest in housing, people who operate programs and deliver services. So then we go to phase three and this is where we pull together the work from the first two phases. The first key question guiding this phase is what should the next year's investment plan be? Every year the city develops a budget and so we'll need to get specific about what kinds of investments will be made to address housing needs. Um in this phase we will come back to everyone um to share some of the findings and share some of the emerging strategies and actions that we recommend the city adopt to address its housing goals. And this will be the phase where we reach the final decision point which will be recommendations um to the city council for targets and tools and investments. I mentioned that engagement will be a part of all the phases and so I'm going to ask Latoya to talk through what that will look like. >> Thanks Sharon. So we're really focused on thinking about how we can use engagement and different engagement tools in a really meaningful way to understand what residents who are currently living in the city are experiencing as part of their day-to-day life with respect to housing. What are the challenges that you're seeing? What are the opportunities that you're seeing? Where are your concerns? What have your experiences been in this in this housing process, in this housing ecosystem? And so, we've got a range of tools available. Tonight is obviously a kickoff. We have a range of tools that we're using throughout this process to be able to reach many of you and get your insights, get your input, get your feedback, hear your experiences, and understand how your experiences can help inform this plan and really make it a meaningful plan for all of you going forward and for the city going forward. Just to review some of the tools that we have, obviously tonight we're doing this virtual webinar as our public kickoff. Again, this is being recorded, so this is something that will live as part of the project website um and set the stage for what's coming in the next couple of months. Um we're going to be doing a series of focus groups um over the next several weeks as well. In fact, some of those are kicking off next week. And those are really to target and hone in on different stakeholder groups to really understand some of their unique needs and their unique lived experiences. Um, some of these groups include seniors in the community, public housing residents, longtime residents who've lived in the city for a really long time and have very real concerns about their ability to stay in the city and afford to stay there. Um, lower moderate income renters and renter households, Spanish speakers, and individuals with disabilities. So, understanding by talking to those groups and really getting some very focused feedback will help inform this plan in a really unique way. We also are going to be working with the city to help organize different community events. So, you'll see city staff at different popup opportunities that'll bring bite-size amounts of information and feedback opportunities into places that you frequent in a on a regular basis. That helps to expand the reach of this process to more people. Again, we'll have other tools including another um virtual pre-release at the top of next year. And before that, we'll have a inerson openhouse before the end of the year in early December. That'll be more interactive in-person way to actually see some of the plan recommendations, meet the team, give your feedback, um, and then be able to understand how the feedback collected to date has informed what those recommendations are. We're also talking to the different um agencies and industry representatives to understand what the government and pro professional sphere is seeing as well so that their feedback can help inform this plan. Um and of course we have council and so they will be taking a very close eye through this process and ultimately providing final approval um on the final plan recommendations. And Sharon, I'll turn it back to you. >> All right. So pulling it all together, this is the preview of the next several months. Um, as I as I described, we've got three phases where we focus on defining needs and goals and then understanding tools and resources and then pulling together the strategy for action and investment. And as you'll see across the top, um, a lot of the engagement opportunities that Latoya described are noted in blue and some of our key city council engagements are noted in red. So, there's a lot of work ahead of us. Um, but we're excited to move forward. We are excited to um, hear from all of you about any questions you have and to get feedback along the way through these different mechanisms. And I think we will now move into Q&A. All right, thank you, Sharon. Um, so again, we're going to go into our Q&A period. I see there's already some questions in the Q&A box. Um, just a very quick reminder. So, if you're joining us by computer or by um the Zoom app on your phone, you will see a Q&A box at the bottom of your screen. And if you don't see that, you want to click the circle with the three dots that says more on the bottom right. Click that. You should see a little box that says Q&A with a question mark. um that'll allow you to input a question there. If you are joining us by phone, quick reminder on the phone controls, if you want to ask a question and you're joining us by phone, please dial star9 to raise your hand. We'll be able to see you and then we can prompt you to unmute yourself to ask your question verbally. Um so with that, I'm going to go ahead and jump into our questions. Um I will flag that any questions that we do not get to in the time that we have allotted for this evening's webinar um will be captured as part of this meeting. Um and we are going to be working with the city to prepare responses to all of those questions to go on the project website. We are again also recording this this meeting. So this record will live um as part of the project website overall. Um and I will consolidate any questions where I see similar themes. So if I don't read your question individually, it may be consolidated with another set of questions just to keep um keep to time. Uh first project, I'm sorry, first question on the list. Um, what kind of projects have the bonds that were mentioned earlier been committed to? >> Well, that's a great question. So with the $95 million bond that was combined with other funding sources to combined result in a $160 million investment on the part of the city um which is resulting in about 3,000 units of affordable housing being added to the affordable housing stock across the city. So, um, we actually have a web page available online that details all the projects that have been funded. So, I'm going to put that in the chat for you, but it includes a range of types of housing projects. Anything from smallcale um, rehabilitation projects to larger multifamily tax credit developments that serve a range of household sizes. Um, so there's a significant number of units that have already been added or will be completed over the next couple of years. And I'll put in the link now to if you want to learn more about the specific projects. All right, next question. Um, can you let any participants in the Braggtown area know to join the small area plan? small area plan. I think there's a meeting on September 29th from 6:00 to 7 presented by Engaged Durham. Um, so that's a a mention from someone in the meeting promoting a meeting on the 29th and Sarah, I'm not sure if you're aware of that meeting. >> Yes, that is um being led by our colleagues in the planning department. >> Okay, thank you. Okay, we have another question here. what do you consider or how do you define affordable housing? >> So, um the definition of affordable housing is when a household's income doesn't exceed more than third or excuse me, a household's housing cost doesn't exceed more than 30% of their income. And that's gross income including utilities. And to qualify for most affordable housing um including in Durham typically to qualify the household needs to earn 80% of the area median income or below. So for example for a household of four Durham currently that's $101,000 a year. So if you earn below $101,000 a year for a family of four you could qualify for many affordable housing options. Um there are projects or types of affordable housing that are specifically for even lower income households. Um we have a real need particularly at the uh 30% AMI households and below, but generally speaking programs go up to 80% AMI. All right, next question. um how will you collect data from residents in phase one and how much of a canvas is done? >> So I think um I'll invite Brick and Story to speak to that since y'all are leading our engagement effort. >> Sure. Um so as I mentioned we have a couple of different engagement tools um that we're using throughout this process. Um some of our primary engagement tools are actually going to be especially for residents are going to be the focus groups, the popups and then the um open house that occurs in December. Um in terms of how we collect data, obviously these are different tools. So we'll have different data collection methods for how we take in the data. Um with focus groups, those are facilitated conversations. So we are hosting those conversations, facilitating them with sets of questions that we've developed um in order to um help understand the different experiences of those groups. Um and then we are documenting with notes um transcribing all of those conversations and then synthesizing that data um for our partners at HRNA. for popups that the city will be leading. Um what we usually try to do is design engagement boards um that can be supporting at the popups. They may have one or two questions that folks who are able to stop by a table and engage for a few minutes can respond to. Those could be visual prioritization exercises with dots. They could be sticky note responses to questions. That will all be documented as well. Um and then for the openhouse workshop, there'll be different tools that we use as part of that that still has to be designed, but some of the tools that I mentioned for some of these other um engagement opportunities may be used there. Um so we use a couple of different ways to collect data. The important thing to note is that we do collect and document all of the data and feedback that we get from residents. Um and our team specifically um has a fairly thorough process of not only documenting that but also trying to analyze it and share it with our technical partners at HRNA so that they can do proper analysis and make plan recommendations based on what you're saying. um in terms of a canvas and Sarah I might ask you to help me with this one a little bit um because with our the way that we are doing engagement with this project we've got as I mentioned a couple of different tools that we're using and we're using that mix of tools to actually reach different people in the city in different ways. Um, so I know the word canvas was mentioned. We're not necessarily doing a direct doortodoor campaign type canvasing effort, but rather we're using different engagement tools to either invite people into a space or to meet people where they are in spaces they already frequent. Um, so that we can get feedback from different stakeholders throughout this process. And Sarah, I'm not sure if you want to add anything to that. >> Yeah. Um well in terms of the popups, we are looking at opportunities like National Night Out where we can connect with residents out in the community um and reach a range of residents um to hear their perspectives and raise awareness about the plan and make sure that they're aware of opportunities to be engaged. So, if you have suggestions of events or opportunities for us, encourage you to share them tonight with us in the chat or reach out afterwards to let us know cuz we're we're going to try to get out um to as many opportunities as possible to to complement the more structured opportunities that Latoya talked about with the stakeholder interviews, the focus groups, and then the many opportunities that are open to everyone in the community where anyone can come and engage in the process. >> All right, I'm going to go on to our next questions next. We have two that are fairly similar um which are questions around unhoused or unsheltered individuals. Um so a question around will the plan address the needs of unhoused um individuals? Um and then is there the possibility of a focus group for unhoused or um unsheltered individuals? So I can speak to the first part of that. So um many of you on on the webinar participated in the recent process of the city developing a homelessness strategic framework. So um the city recently went through a process of creating a very comprehensive plan to address the needs of our unhoused neighbors across the city. And this plan is intended to dovetail with that framework. So um we have shared the framework with our partners at HRNA and Brick and Story. That's one of the foundational documents that they are looking at. And where this plan will really intersect with that is primarily around looking at addressing the housing that's needed to serve households experiencing homelessness. So our extremely low-income uh neighbors in the community who um have experienced homelessness. So that is the that is one intersection point. There may be others that we discover through the planning process but that's a very clear connection point with the homelessness framework. So um to answer the question I think more uh directly yes this plan will address the needs of unhoused population. We're not however we're not duplicating efforts of the homelessness framework. We're looking at opportunities where we can complement and build off of that work and address the goals identified in that plan. Um, and in terms of focus groups, we have identified um specific populations which Latoya shared that we plan to reach through the focus groups. Um, and I think there may be some unhoused neighbors that are participating in those sessions um through our partners that we've identified. But Latoya, I'll invite you. Is there anything you'd like to add on that question? >> No, I think that's I think that's right. And I think your earlier response also around some of the work that you've done previously and the feedback that we've gotten from that has has provided data specifically around the unhoused and unsheltered populations. Um that will help to inform the work that HRNA is doing. So the focus groups that we have set up are are also to to help make sure that we're getting um similar level of feedback and input from other populations um that again are experiencing some of that housing instab instability and housing um challenge um that we've heard um exists in the city. So let me keep us going. Um there are I'm just doing a quick scan. There's a couple of questions. Um and I think you started to get to this Sarah. Um just a couple of questions around um looking at work that's been done um in other studies. Um the Durham County community health assessment data um has been referenced as a potential resource. Um questions around any lessons learned or outcomes or results from Forever Durham. Um and so I think kind of a general question um actually another plan that's referenced here is Durham's functional zero homelessness plan. So if there's any um any thoughts you can share around how this particular plan and process um might be taken from those studies or um even taking learnings or considerations as as the team moves through its process. >> Yeah. So um you heard us talk about how this plan will build off of past efforts. We know that we're not starting from zero. A lot of work has been done already. A lot of plans already exist. So we absolutely will be sharing a variety of data sources with the team um and welcome additional resources through the preliminary conversations that HRNA has had. A lot of resources and um plans have been identified that they've added to the list. So appreciate the suggestion around the health assessment from the county. we will add that to our list. And if there's others that you all identify, um Sharon, is there anything that you want to add in terms of the approach that you all take to looking at plans and incorporating them into the the work that you're doing? >> Um well, I was just going to echo the appreciation for the recommendation around the community health needs assessment. We do have a very long running list of plans that we have already reviewed um as well as um feedback that's been collected from other sources like budget engagement sessions and um other planning processes as well as nonprofit reports. Um but in terms of learning from other places um we've we've definitely already started to think about where it may make sense to look at some comparisons you know in the areas of um code enforcement for example or eviction prevention. And so that will be part of the process as well um figuring out if there's any inspiration that can be um adapted from other places. All right, we have a question about the um stakeholder and practitioner interviews. Will the practitioner interviews include affordable housing programs in Raleigh and Chapel Hill? >> So, um Sharon, do you want to speak to that one? >> So, yeah, I mean we have not yet finalized our list of practitioner interviews. Generally what we will do is try to focus on the key questions that we want to answer and um and then figure out who to talk to to best answer them. [clears throat] And so at the moment we don't have any specific interviews set with Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Um however it may make sense to take that into consideration as we build out that practitioner list. Um, and certainly if there are elements of what's happening in Raleigh or Chapel Hill that any attendees would like to flag as areas to explore, we'd welcome that feedback. >> And staying on the theme of stakeholder interviews, um, how will affordable housing developers be engaged in this process? So we as part of the process we do um as Sharon said the stakeholder list is still being finalized but we have on our list affordable housing developers and developers in general as key stakeholders to be engaged in the process. Sharon, anything that you want to add on that? Yeah, we I I expect that we'll probably have um a focus group that it helps us explore the experience of um development in the city and through that process we can delve into some of the data that we're seeing also in terms of market trends so that we can get some on the ground perspective of some of the development patterns that we're seeing. you know, for example, the kinds of homes that are um delivering at certain price points, understanding where some of the impediments to um maybe smaller scale or more affordable homes might be. That might be one area where we explore. Um so I think that will be an opportunity to build on some of what we see in the data by understanding um the the perspective of developers and others who are in the housing ecosystem. All right. Our next question is about existing housing inventory in the city. Do you have the current existing inventory of housing in Durham, low, mid, and high? This information is needed to make informed decisions to move forward. That is a great question. So, our team has been working on building out a database of all existing affordable housing in the city, which we we now have and we've shared with HRNA um as part of the preliminary data that they're looking at. Um, we also have shared with them information about uh h general housing units that have come online over the last several years so that they have a sense of what housing is being added to the housing stock overall. Um, and they'll also be looking at other sources that help kind of weave together the whole picture of what is the housing stock look like in the city. Um and Sharon, I'll invite you to add any more specifics in terms of other data sources that you may look at to um get to this question. >> Yeah. So, um we, you know, part of what we're doing is one addressing the question of what's the current state? So, what's out there? Um how affordable is it? Um is it at risk of becoming more expensive? Um we're also looking at um what housing will be needed in the future and um so part of our analysis is also projecting the kinds of housing that or the how much housing, how affordable that housing should be um to meet the the needs of people who live in Durham based on the incomes that we expect every everyone to have. So, um, to do some of that work, we use, um, census data. We use sources like Zillow to look at some of the recent deliveries. We may tap into Co-Star data to understand a bit more about the development patterns. Um and all of that will also again be paired with the city data that we're able to use um alongside federal databases for a complete picture of both what's currently here um but also what will be needed in the next 5 to 10 years. Right. The next question, how does the city plan to assess the tools that are currently available for housing such as down payment assistance programs and tax relief for residents? Though that is a great question and that is a core part of the work that HRNA is doing. So they are looking at all of our existing programs, evaluating those, um, seeing what opportunities there could be to strengthen them. So that's that's part of the analysis that they're doing. we've shared with them uh a lot of foundational information about our programs. Um so that is that is a core part of it. Um because we know that there could be opportunities to make improvements and adjustments to our existing programs and approaches. So um that is a major part of what they'll be doing. And HRNA, anything else that you want to add? Um I would just add that I mean obviously the various tools and programs are they can be diverse in their objectives but from a general standpoint what we're what we're trying to understand is are they reaching their intended audience um the intended beneficiary um could they be more effective in doing that? um and is there a need to refocus at all given some of the needs that we're seeing in the market? And so that's why the tools assessment follows this initial assessment of understanding needs and goals so that we can evaluate those programs within the broader understanding of what residents need. >> Right. Our next question, in phase one, is data being collected around housing that has been approved by council but has not come online yet. Yes. So, um, we have a very detailed database that outlines what what projects and programs have been funded that are still in the pipeline and that's been shared with HRNA and is something that they'll be looking at as part of the planning process. All right, our next question. Will income levels be based on Durham only rather than the federal Durham Chapel Hill area? So um I may ask HRNA to speak to that. I mean generally speaking we for our existing programs and our partners generally use the Durham Chapel Hill MSA area. So it is broader than Durham um but is for our immediate area. But HRA is there do you all plan to drill down to Durham specifically um in any way? >> Yeah. So um for example when we are looking at future housing need um what we're doing is first looking at the population projections from both the state and the regional planning organization and from there we are looking at the incomes that are expected from that future population growth and we're we're taking from there what we expect the city component to be as opposed to the county or the region overall. So, we are taking into account the city from that standpoint, but that will still align with the area median income that's associated with the region. So, we're looking at city projection, but um sort of benchmarking that against um that broader AMI um uh threshold, if that makes sense. And I'm going to stay on this theme of just of income bands. We have a few kind of related questions. Um there is a question around um have AMIs been determined or will that be determined during the phases? Um there's also a question around does the 80% AMI definition apply to both rental and for sale housing? So the AMIs are adjusted annually and determined by the federal government by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. So we look at that data annually and make adjustments to eligibility for programs based on how those numbers change. So we'll continue to do that. Um in next year there'll be new numbers. So um we would make adjustments annually on that basis and HRNA um will use whatever is the most current numbers for their analysis. >> All right, our next question. This seems to be centered on the city of Durham. What about the county residents who are experiencing a threat of being able to stay in Durham? >> That is a great question. So, our plan is uh centered on the city of Durham and it will identify opportunities for collaboration and partnership for strategies that our partners at the county um or institutional partners could work with us on to address our affordable housing challenges. So, we know that affordable housing doesn't stop at the city limits. It is a a a regional and national issue. So um we will identify strategies that that we can certainly move forward as a city but also those that we could collaborate with our partners on. Um and the reality is that the city occupies most of the county. So um we expect that the strategies that we apply here in this city um could also be applied and would positively impact um residents across the county. All right, our next question. How will phase one identify residents who are housing insecure but may not fit neatly into traditional assistance categories, particularly working households who earn too much for some subsidies, but still cannot qualify for or sustainably afford market rate housing? And will that population be intentionally represented in the resident focus groups? That is a great question. So, um you've heard us talk a lot about affordable housing and that certainly is uh a key focus of this plan and it will also address like what are the housing needs overall that we have? How much housing do we need to add overall in the city over the next 5 years? which gets to your point about, you know, it's it's low-income people certainly have a great need for affordable housing and many other community members are also struggling to find and stay um in their housing in the city. So, we are um with this effort attempting to look at both of those questions. Um, and I'll invite HRNA to speak more to how those pieces will kind of fit together and be reflected in our plan. >> Yeah, I mean being like housing the housing market and housing options definitely exist within a broader spectrum of um of need and a a housing that is affordable to one household may not be affordable to another. So it is relative in a lot of ways. Um part of what we what we do to get at that nuance is um take a very granular approach to the analysis. But the other piece of this is really understanding issues from a variety of perspectives, right? And so that means partnering with different members of the community, different organizations. It also means partnering with different practitioners who are interacting with that ecosystem in different ways. Um, and so that is something that we try to do through all phases of the process. >> All right, next question. Will grants be offered to preserve existing housing? Is that something that's being considered as part of this plan? >> We That is a great question. We don't have the answers yet um since we're just kicking off the planning process, but that certainly will be one of the strategies and tools that HRNA looks at. And um we will make note of that suggestion here and then encourage you um to offer that through the other engagement opportunities. Um that is something that we have in place currently. Actually, we have home repair programs um in place currently that assist low-income households with making repairs to their homes. So, um that certainly is a strategy that is used currently in Durham and is is something that um we'll be looking at for our new plan going forward. Um and we have uh two questions that are actually asking about home ownership options. Give me one moment. I lost the second question. Bear with me one moment. Ah. Uh questions around do you see the need for and this may be a question that can be answered at a later date. Do you see the need um for more single family for sale or more or multif family rental housing in the city? Um and a related question is um will there be affordable houses for purchase available um after this planning process or do you see a that opportunity coming out as an outcome of this plan? So it it could be um we're going into this with an open mind about really wanting to understand what the need is um based on the data but also the experiences of people in the community. Um so that is that is one of the questions that we're seeking to answer is what is the type of housing that we should focus on um building more of? Who should it serve? What is the type of housing? Is it single family homes? Is it town houses? So we don't have an answer um going into this. Um but we will by the end of by the time we have a plan, we'll have an answer to that question. And I will flag we have a just a little over five minutes left for a Q&A before we wrap up this evening. So again, if we don't get to your question tonight, we do have all of the questions that are being input, there will be responses um shared with this recording as well in the presentation on the project website after uh tonight's meeting. Um our next question is about the forever home plan. Um and the question I'm going to summarize the question a bit. um if there's um any data um that talks about um outcomes or measurable goals or results um from Forever Home um and particularly goals, deadlines, anything around um any projects that were included as part of that plan. Yes. Um we I shared in the chat or I believe Emily shared in the chat a link to our web page. It outlines um key outcomes of Forever Home Durham as well as the projects that were supported through that. We've also provided u relatively regular updates to our council. Most recently, Assistant City Manager Wallace, who's on the call this evening, gave an update to council last December. Um and a link to that presentation is also on our web page. Um but we have been doing a lot of work um since Forever Home Durham was launched to not only support our part partners in executing project but also tracking our progress and that information is available on our website. Next question. Will regional financing efforts multicount be considered? Will this process explore how other potential funders such as corporations, universities or foundations um how how those entities can be involved? There are multis- sector initiatives in other regions of the country such as the Bay Area. >> Yes, absolutely. So, our investment strategy will look at not just what resources the city could invest to support implementation, but also what other um what other sectors, what other sources could help us um carry out the plan. Um Sharon, is there anything that you want to add on that point? just that it's um definitely something that we have already heard some interest in and um we're very familiar with models from other places. We've helped to design and stand up um initiatives and and mechanisms like this. And so I I think that as we get into phase two of exploring um tools, resources, and potential new action, that's definitely a place where we plan to do a little bit more work. All right. Next question is about focus groups. Are focus groups open to the general public? >> Latoya, do you want to take that one? >> Sure. Um, so we are working with local community partners to organize the focus groups. Um, this is in part because we have different targeted stakeholders and demographics that we're trying to make sure that we receive feedback from and engage in this process. And so we've got the focus groups that are going to be invitation based and really developed in coordination with the partners that we are working with to convene those. And so those partners are helping us to convene based on residents that they work with on a regular basis. Um, also some of the um, groups that we are convening might be uh, might not be the types of groups that feel comfortable coming out to some of these larger public convenings, which is why we're creating some of these smaller space opportunities for their for those groups. Even though the focus groups are not open to the general public, this is why we have other engagement opportunities. So, we do encourage the general public to plan to come to the openhouse workshop in December um as well as to um follow the project website for updates on any popup opportunities when you can engage with city staff um out in the field at events that you might be going to as part of your day-to-day life in order to provide feedback and engage more in this process. All right, I'm going to take two more questions. Um, will there be an opportunity for temporary residents, specifically students at the local universities to benefit from the plan? >> Yes. So, um, we welcome participation and input from everyone in the community, including students. And we know that um that we have many educational institutions in the community that are that are really important um to Durham and uh so we welcome student input. Um we will make sure that we're sharing with our partners at um Durham Tech and CCU um Duke and our other educational institutions opportunities um for engagement in the planning process um so that their voices are represented. All right. And the final question that I will take for this evening, and again we if we didn't get to your question, we have a record of all of them and we can um respond to them um as part of the uploads on the website. Um how will the plan measure the gap between qualifying for affordable housing and actually being able to get into it or access it? >> That is a great question. I will kick that one to HRNA. So um part of the way that we'll go we'll get to understand that is through stakeholder perspectives. Um so that will come from both housing providers and also some of our resident focus groups. Um, so just because a program exists or a particular type of housing exists, like there's all kinds of factors that go into whether somebody who is eligible actually gets to uh, you know, gets the keys to the the unit. Um, and so the the housing providers engagement there will be part of what we're using to understand those outcomes. >> All right. Right. Again, that is the last question we're going to take for this evening, just to make sure that we get everyone out of here on time. Uh, I am going to turn this back over to Sarah to close us out this evening. As a quick reminder, again, we are recording tonight's session. I saw a question about that in the Q&A. So, this will be um posted online. Um, and Sarah will close us out and also talk about how you can stay in touch and engaged. Sarah, >> great. Thank you, Latoya. Well, thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us tonight for this kickoff. We really appreciate your engagement from the beginning in this process and it's really exciting to see the range of partners and residents um that are with us tonight. Um we encourage you all to go ahead and take the survey. It's it's very quick um but will be another data point that we use to inform the plan. Um, please stay tuned to our project web page to stay informed about opportunities for engagement in the process. Um, we need to do this together. This is one of our city's greatest challenges and we are really excited to create a new plan that is meaningful that's informed by data as well as the experiences of our residents to really shape the future of housing and affordable housing in Durham. So, um we're excited about this. We're excited that you all are here and encourage you all to to stay engaged and please reach out to us if you have questions um or suggestions um to me or to other members of the project team from housing and neighborhood services that are on the call tonight. And we appreciate your time again and hope that you all have a great evening. Thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you everyone.