[Charlotte, NC |Thursday, April 4, 2024] – A project to create affordable, highly energy efficient homes in Grier Heights – a historically Black community in Charlotte with a legacy that dates back to the 1800s – was the backdrop for today’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awards announcement.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is a $27 billion component of the Inflation Reduction Act that presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tackle the climate crisis while building a stronger economy for all Americans. The program will deploy funding to catalyze market transformation and strengthen the capacity of community lenders to support clean energy projects.
The highlighted development in Grier Heights is home to 49 homes, renovated and/or built with a focus on housing affordability and lower monthly. Not only were these homes affordable, but they were also built to be deeply energy efficient and guarantee energy savings to the homeowners. The development offers a glimpse of the real-world impact community investments can have. The renovations and construction in Grier Heights were done in partnership with residents of the neighborhood, CrossRoads Corporation for Affordable Housing & Community Development and the nonprofit Center for Community Self-Help (Self-Help), which has a decades-long history in the Charlotte region.
“There’s an old saying, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Grier Heights has come a long way,” explains Donnetta Collier, Self-Help senior financial coach who introduced Vice President Kamala Harris at the event. “Self-Help—together with a whole lot of partners—built 49 highly energy efficient homes here in Griertown, as it’s affectionately known. That’s what I call truly investing in a community.”
Homebuyers, 46 of whom were first-time homeowners, could tap into various sources for downpayment assistance and additional financing. In total, the partners estimate that the collaborative work resulted in $7.5 million of investment in the neighborhood. That initial investment helped spark tens of millions of additional dollars in market rate and affordable housing development by other organizations.
“Our lending and development programs, including historic commercial building rehabs, new and renovated affordable housing; and loans to small-businesses and affordable residential developers – are designed with a goal to strengthen communities and effect positive change, not displace people from the neighborhood,” Collier states. “We want to keep families in place and ensure homes remain affordable.”
Before becoming a financial coach, Donnetta spent many years as a loan officer and as a project manager in real estate development.
“Our work in Grier Heights was not easy.” Collier recalled. “It took so many different subsidies and partners and neighborhood leadership to get it done. With Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund support, projects like this can be scaled across the country.”
Grier Heights started as an independent farming community that grew rapidly in the 1940s with the addition of 100 homes for Black veterans returning from WWII. Over time, the community faced various pressures: underinvestment, vacant homes, crime and gentrification. In response, trusted community-centered organizations have partnered with neighborhood residents to revitalize the neighborhood and build affordable, environmentally sustainable homes, with a focus on serving first-time homeowners.
CrossRoads and Self-Help also worked to attract private and public investments to support revitalization work in Grier Heights, with a focus on keeping housing costs affordable.
About the Center for Community Self-Help
The Center for Community Self-Help is a family of nonprofit organizations with a collective mission to create and protect ownership and economic opportunity for all. Since its founding in 1980, Self-Help has grown to include two credit unions, a loan fund and a research and policy affiliate that have helped expand economic opportunity for underserved communities nationwide. Together these entities provide financing, technical support, consumer financial services and advocacy for communities which have been systematically left out of the economic mainstream.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: For More Information, Contact: Jenny Shields, Director of Media Relations, Self-Help Credit Union Direct Line: 919.794.6798 Cell: (919) 584-4379 Email: Jenny.Shields@self-help.org