As we continue our focus on home for the month of April, the UNC Partnerships in Aging recognizes Habitat for Humanity of Orange County NC in Chapel Hill, NC, for their innovative work in senior housing.
In January of 2018, Habitat for Humanity International unveiled a nationwide initiative to honor the concept of the Beloved Community through a series of projects marking the 50th anniversary of both the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the passage of the Fair Housing Act. The Beloved Community was advanced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as an achievable goal for peaceable co-existence by people committed to nonviolence and justice. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County NC aligned with this concept through their evolving plans for a senior housing community situated in Hillsborough, NC – Crescent Magnolia. Designating Crescent Magnolia as a Beloved Community seemed fitting given that it was designed to facilitate access, equality and affordability for its residents. It fulfills a distinct need in Orange County, NC, an area in which senior housing is in critically short supply and seniors are the most cost-burdened group related to housing: 28% of homeowners and 56% of renters over the age of 65 pay more than 30% of their monthly income on housing.
The origin of the idea for the Crescent Magnolia community is credited to the former (and first) Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, Susan Levy. Her interest in senior housing stemmed from experiences with her own mother’s later-life housing needs, when she began to realize the lack of affordable, stable and safe housing options. This experience plus Habitat’s work in home repair highlighted the need for more sustainable housing options, and influenced Susan to approach the Habitat Board of Directors with the idea for Crescent Magnolia. Credit is due to both Susan and the Board for committing to build Crescent Magnolia, and undertaking the hard work of finding donors and collaborating with partners to design and construct age-friendly accessible units. When Susan Levy retired at the end of 2018, her successor Jennifer Player and the Habitat of Orange County staff picked up the project without missing a beat. Crescent Magnolia is considered innovative within the scope of typical Habitat developments because it is a model that offers home ownership for older adults; most Habitat affiliates build or collaborate to offer only rental options for this population.
As of Spring 2021, the construction on Crescent Magnolia is complete and the units are 95% occupied. It is a neighborhood of 24 connected single-story townhomes nested on 3 acres donated by the developer of a larger, adjacent mixed-use development. I visited Crescent Magnolia last week as part of a Habitat fund-raising campaign, and the neighborhood is bursting with life; there are backdoor container gardens growing vegetables and flowers, a lending library kiosk, and welcoming rocking chairs on the front porches.
Home ownership in later life is sometimes considered less desirable for older adults on fixed incomes who may be unable to pay a large down payment, unwilling to take on a long-term payment obligation, or assumed by creditors not to be a secure risk for long-term investment. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County problem-solved creative options relative to these concerns, including alternative sweat equity arrangements and a guaranteed buyback program with shared equity once a homeowner no longer wishes to own the home. The cost of Crescent Magnolia townhomes is also subsidized to offer affordability for seniors whose income falls between 40-80% AMI, and energy efficiency was optimized in the construction to ensure lower utility costs.
The UNC Partnerships in Aging Program salutes this innovative and thoughtful work by Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. PiAP was privileged to partner with Habitat of Orange to capture the spirit and logistics of the project in a resource manual available free of charge to any interested party. We invite you to learn more by linking to The Story of Crescent Magnolia.
©2021 JLWomack Professor, Division of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy UNC-Chapel Hill
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