Housing GSO: HRA Greensboro Affordable Housing Plan

LETTER OF SUPPORT – INVEST HEALTH GREENSBORO

October 19, 2020

Dear Mayor Vaughan, members of the Greensboro City Council, and Mr. Parrish,

Several years ago, we formed a team called Invest Health Greensboro 1 to learn more about the influence of housing affordability and conditions on the health and well-being of Greensboro residents. With the support of national funders like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, our local leaders joined 50 teams from across the country to investigate how communities working together can increase the availability of affordable, safe and healthy housing. We are driven by a deep community need for healthy homes and a belief that upstream investment in housing will prevent pain and suffering and reduce preventable healthcare costs. Through our Invest Health work, we have seen evidence of this throughout the country and in our own community. Research by UNC Greensboro and the Greensboro Housing Coalition estimated an 80% reduction in healthcare costs for families with children with asthma who receive housing assessments and modest home modifications to improve indoor air quality. Recent analysis by Cone Health of multi-family renovations in east Greensboro show a sharp drop in the need for respiratory-related trips to the Emergency Department and hospitalizations after renovations began. Healthy homes make a difference for individuals, families and communities. We have more work to do, as a community, to improve the housing, health and well- being of Greensboro residents. In 2019, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America 2 ranked Greensboro the third most challenging city in the United States for people with asthma. Our local supply of available affordable housing remains extremely limited, posing a large burden on many families that are currently facing economic hardship due to job loss during this pandemic. These critical times call for the vision that the City of Greensboro has put forth in its Ten-Year Housing GSO plan. We support the Housing GSO strategic plan and urge its adoption . We look forward to participating in the implementation groups as shared leadership and will bring resources for accomplishing these urgently needed goals for housing investment necessary for healthy communities, long-term stability, and economic development.

We want to be a part of realizing this vision and offer our analysis and data, information on solutions from other communities that we have gained through our Invest Health national network, and our connections to sources of capital investment in affordable housing. We look forward to learning more about how we can support the City of Greensboro in the Housing GSO plan for affordable rental development and preservation, neighborhood reinvestment, and supportive housing.

Sincerely, Brett Byerly , Carolina Community Investments Brittany Cousins , Carolina Community Investments

Kathy Colville , Cone Health Bill Feehan , Cone Health Kenneth Gruber , UNC Greensboro Center for Housing and Community Studies Beth McKee-Huger , Bishop's Committee on Affordable Housing Brooks Ann McKinney , Cone Health Stephen Sills , UNC Greensboro Center for Housing and Community Studies Mac Sims , East Greensboro NOW Josie Williams , Greensboro Housing Coalition

1 https://www.investhealth.org/city-team/greensboro-nc/ 2 https://www.aafa.org/asthma-capitals-top-100-cities-ranking/

HR&A Advisors, Inc.

Page 175