New program to provide affordable housing for teens transitioning out of foster care in Raleigh
A new project is expected to help North Carolina teens transitioning out of foster care to find affordable housing.
Growing up in foster care without a place to call home is difficult enough, but what happens when children age out of the system?
About 25% of foster children who age of out the system become homeless within four years, according to the National Foster Institute. Data shows most of those kids become homeless adults.
Mia Murphy said she aged out of the system two years after her mother passed away, and had to move on.
"Life became a whirlwind," she said. "My foster care experience wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst."
On Tuesday, WRAL News learned more about plans for a new program that could help change that. The Hope Center at Pullen is now partnered with the nonprofit organization, Casa, to provide affordable housing for former foster children. It will be a nine-unit apartment building with an office and small community space called Hope Village at Method.
The program was on a shortlist community projects U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, D-North Carolian, requested for funding in 2023.
"Last year, I requested funding for 15 community projects that were developed by the people of Wake County, for the people of Wake County," Ross said.
After President Joe Biden signed a spending package, it created $12 million in funding for county, $1 million of which will provide safe and affordable housing for people aging out of foster care. Everette McElveen, Casa's executive director, says the new project is a dream come true.
"They're going to have a safe and stable place to transition into adulthood," he said.
Murphy, a former client of the Hope Center, now serves on its advisory board and says she's living the dream.
"The most important thing at the Hope Center ... is they gave me a family," she said.
To qualify, you must earn less than 30% of the average income for the area. That’s roughly less than $24,000 a year in Raleigh.
Groundbreaking at the new community space is expected to begin in the summer.
