March 31, 2009. The Daily Progress.
A local interfaith group that tackles community social issues has locked in even more commitments from several elected officials to solve the region’s affordable housing problems.
The Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together, or IMPACT, held its third Nehemiah Action meeting Monday, and the elected officials attending unanimously supported creating a centralized office to serve area residents seeking affordable rental housing. The recommendation was one of several listed in a joint task force report released in January about the area’s affordable housing issues.
“Your enthusiasm is contagious,” Councilor Julian Taliaferro said in front of a group of at least 1,300 people at the University of Virginia’s University Hall.
Councilors, with the exception of David Brown, who did not attend the annual event, also unanimously supported hiring a housing planner to help implement the joint task force’s findings and devoting at least $1 million to affordable housing in the upcoming fiscal year.
Most members of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors agreed to amend the county’s Comprehensive Plan to allow for more affordable housing and potentially to adjust the maximum amount in proffers for affordable housing to assist nonprofit developers in building affordable units.
This year, in addition to continuing its efforts on affordable housing for renters and for those making less than 30 percent of the area median income, IMPACT has decided to direct its efforts toward early childhood education in the area, after spending months researching which component of education the group should target.
The group also sought commitments from local officials to implement a plan to quantify the unmet need of quality preschool for the region’s children and to reflect on community contributions to student readiness for kindergarten. Currently, members said, there is no data about the number of children who are unable to get this kind of education.
“We cannot move forward without the basic data,” said Dennis McAuliffe, pastor of Holy Comforter Catholic Church and IMPACT’s co-chairman.
Research by the group found that it collectively costs the city and county $948,000 per year for children to repeat kindergarten, something that could potentially be eliminated by bolstering preschool programs in the local school divisions.
“There are important economic impacts for investing in early education,” said Joan Burchell of St. Paul’s Memorial Church.
IMPACT, which comprises 30 congregations of multiple religions, has been credited with many area successes related to affordable housing and dental care for low-income, uninsured adults.
At last year’s event, which more than 1,900 people attended, there were several commitments from local officials and area organizations to move ahead on IMPACT’s issues. The Charlottesville Free Clinic committed to developing a plan to give dental care to low-income, uninsured adults and to hire a full-time dentist by March, but the goal was met by September. Various other groups — such as Martha Jefferson Hospital and the University of Virginia Medical Center — agreed to provide resources to implement the plan.
On affordable housing, last year IMPACT sought to get the City Council and Board of Supervisors to each commit $500,000 in their current budgets to help provide housing for the working poor who earn up to 30 percent of Charlottesville’s area median income. Four councilors and two supervisors committed to those amounts.
This year, McAuliffe and others said the group was committed to working with the city and county’s superintendents, governments and school boards on the education issue.
“Are we ready to give up on our children?” asked Vickie Johnson-Williams of Evergreen Ministries. “IMPACT’s answer is a resounding no.”
