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Affordable housing is in short supply in Rutherford County. In fact, more than 47 percent of residents are cost burdened, meaning they are paying more that 30 percent of their household income for housing. Rutherford County Habitat announces thanks to support from Dogwood Health Trust, Rutherford County has received a tremendous boost.
"Dogwood Health Trust's grant will increase our capacity to serve many families," said Kim Freeman, executive director of Rutherford County Habitat. "We are so grateful for Dogwood's commitment to help us address the disadvantages created by a lack of affordable housing in Rutherford County. The Town of Spindale will be our focus and this will bring about great change for the town that has been needed for quite a while."
The Town of Spindale had a population of 4,190 as of 2019. The average household income in Spindale is $45,000 with a poverty rate of 12.6 percent. The median rental cost in recent years was $583 per month, and 22 percent of homes are valued at $60,000 or less. An estimated 30-35 percent of Spindale renters pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent while the estimate for Rutherford County is 26 percent.
The housing stock in Spindale is made up of older homes with 17.2 percent being built before 1940 and 45.8% being built between 1940-1969. The Spindale Project will be integrating families into a neighborhood of mixed incomes, races, education levels, and marital statuses to create a truly diversified community. Important aspects of this neighborhood include its proximity to good schools, churches, grocery stores, and the downtown area of Spindale all of which are important in helping to raise families out of a "poverty mentality."
Substandard housing in Spindale is a much greater problem than most people know. And it isn't just housing that's unattractive or outdated. It is housing that poses a risk to the health, safety, or physical well-being of its occupants, its neighbors, and visitors. Low-quality housing can be detrimental to each individual living in the home. Adults and children alike can experience physical illness caused by trace amounts of lead in the home, mold and mildew, poor ventilation, and rodents that often go hand in hand with substandard housing. Children can have a negative school performance due to emotional and behavioral problems stemming from housing instability or the stress that parents experience due to poor living conditions.
To help eliminate substandard housing and the negative outcomes those living in it face, Rutherford County Habitat is embarking on a bold, new neighborhood revitalization project in the Town of Spindale. With the help of Dogwood Health Trust, Habitat will be able to provide critical home repairs as well as purchase land that will be used to build safe, affordable housing for low-income families in need.
Shelter is one of life's most basic needs. And having a decent place to call home - a place to feel secure - can change one's life. Dogwood Health Trust's funding will help families break the cycle of poverty, despair and hopelessness that many feel right now because they cannot provide adequate housing for their families. This funding will help children have a place to live in which they can thrive. It will also help the Town of Spindale by providing increased stability within the neighborhood Habitat will be working in and one safe, stable neighborhood will positively influence the bordering neighborhood and that one will affect the next.
In response to the ever-growing need for quality housing in Rutherford County, Habitat's Spindale Project aims to serve low-to-moderate-income families through a partnership to build adequate, affordable housing for those who need a better place to live. By partnering with Habitat families not only have housing stability, they acquire the access, skills, and financial education necessary to be successful homeowners thus seizing the opportunity and possibility that decent, affordable housing represents. The positive outcomes will be long-lasting and life-changing.
"Dogwood Health Trust is delighted to provide our support to Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity, the Town of Spindale, and Rutherford Housing Partnership, who will be part of the Spindale revitalization project," said Dr. Susan Mims, Interim CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. "This work aligns perfectly with our goals of equitable neighborhood revitalization and creating healthy communities across the region."
"Having this partnership with Dogwood Health Trust means that many families in the Town of Spindale will experience the protection, warmth, and safety that adequate housing supplies much more quickly and efficiently than we ever could have done alone. Together we are investing in people's futures by investing in housing and for Dogwood's partnership, we could never thank them enough," said Freeman.
About Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity: Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International and is a non-profit housing ministry started as the vision of a county resident who saw the need for housing for low-income families. She helped start our affiliate in 1987 and the first Habitat house was built in 1988. Thirty-four years later, Habitat's mission to eliminate substandard housing and to build safe, decent, affordable housing for low-to-moderate income families continues. Today Habitat has built 82 houses throughout Rutherford County including one subdivision, Hopeview Estates, which is located in Spindale.
About Dogwood Health Trust: Dogwood Health Trust is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities of 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust focuses on innovative and equitable ways to address the many factors that contribute to overall health and wellness. With a focus on housing, education, economic opportunity and access to care and health resources, Dogwood Health Trust works to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. To learn more, visit www.dht.org.
