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Impact 704 Academy: Preventing displacement, taking action

Impact 704 session 2

Kenny Robinson, Freedom Fighting Missionaries, and Rev. Janet Garner-Mullins, CRTC steering committee member

On Thursday, Sustain Charlotte hosted our second of three 2024 Impact 704 Academy sessions at the Charlotte Urban Design Center in South End, sponsored by South End. 

The program, co-led by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Coalition, provided an introduction to development and affordable housing and included a panel discussion moderated by Rev. Janet Garner-Mullins, CRTC steering committee member, and featuring Warren Wooten, Assistant Director of Affordable Housing, City of Charlotte; Judith Brown, Project70Forward.org; Kenny Robinson, Freedom Fighting Missionaries; and Wil Russell, Laurel Street Development

This session introduced the basics of land use and development in Charlotte, with a deeper focus on preventing displacement and ensuring all people can afford housing as our neighborhoods grow and change.

Panelists provided an important point of view and reminded attendees how influential residents are when they engage and speak up. 

Kenny Robinson spoke of the challenges that justice-involved individuals face in securing and maintaining housing.

Kenny Robinson spoke of the challenges that justice-involved individuals face in securing and maintaining housing. He shared an example of how NIMBY-ism (i.e. “Not In My Backyard”) made the only feasible site for affordable housing along W. T. Harris Blvd, which is a high speed road that does not have the public transit access or bike lanes that residents of this housing badly need. He emphasized the importance of educating children and how when his daughter was nine years old, she saw an empty lot and said, “They could build affordable housing there.” Several years later, the site was developed as just that. Children will shape the future of our communities and it’s never too early to involve them in having a voice. 

Judith Brown’s nonprofit teaches clients with disabilities to be self-advocates. This means educating them about how to understand laws and systems that affect their lives and the importance of voting and taking effective action. She emphasized the importance of fighting apathy and knowing which policies need to be changed at the state versus the local level. 

As a developer of mixed-income housing, Wil Russell spoke frankly of the economic realities of how difficult it is for even well-intentioned developers to build affordable housing and still be able to satisfy their loan requirements. Historically, Black and Brown communities haven’t been involved and weren’t welcomed in development decisions in Charlotte. That is now changing, but there is a long legacy of injustice to overcome. Russell encouraged attendees to get involved in their neighborhoods and to speak at rezoning meetings to ask developers for community benefits when new projects are proposed. 

Warren Wooten, the only government staff member on the panel, shared a unique perspective. He highlighted the power that individuals and grassroots organizations like Sustain Charlotte and the Charlotte Regional Transportation Coalition have to make their voices heard. He reminded us that our City Council members work for us, and they do listen to and respond to residents. 

Impact 704 session 2_ii

The session concluded with the panelists answering audience questions. 

This free 3-part series will conclude on Wednesday, December 11 with an examination of the importance of transportation choices to ensure that all people have access to the places they need to go in the Charlotte area. You’ll hear from local experts Charlie Jones, Deputy Director at Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), and Andy Mock, Senior Project Manager at Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), about the value of a complete mobility network that allows us to take more daily trips by walking, biking, and public transit. There will be plenty of time for audience Q&A and interaction.

You do not have to have attended previous sessions to join! If you weren’t able to make it to this week’s event, you can check out the presentation. 

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