Why North Carolinians Struggle To Find Affordable Housing

By Hady Mawajdeh,

Published February 3, 2015 at 12:20 PM EST

View from the hilltop at Carver Pond Apartments on Meriwether Drive in Durham, North Carolina

In North Carolina, two million families live without adequate housing.

Thousands of families are living in hotel rooms and many more live without heat or indoor plumbing. Stagnant wages, shrinking public spending and growing demand contribute to the problem. Why is it becoming more difficult to find affordable place to live in North Carolina?

Host Frank Stasio talks with Raleigh and Wake Country reporter Andrew Kenney about developments in affordable housing in the region.

Frank also speaks with executive director Satana Deberry about the issues and myths surrounding affordable housing. And, he speaks with Helen Person, a Wake County resident struggling to find affordable housing for her family.

He discusses affordable housing with experts ; ; and Ned Fowler, president of the .

Find out more about Walnut Terrace and read Kenney's .

Helen Person and other Raleigh citizens living in hotels were featured in a earlier this month.

Ethan Hyman of the N&O has put a video together showing what conditions people like Helen Person are living under. This is what it looks like when a .

Helen and other families living in the Raleigh Inn have started a .

Tags

Hady Mawajdeh

Hady Mawajdeh is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. He listened to Fresh Air growing up and fell in love with public radio. He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication at Texas State University and specialized in electronic media. He worked at NPR affiliate stations KUT and KUTX in Austin, Texas as an intern, producer, social media coordinator, and a late-night deejay.

See stories by Hady Mawajdeh

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's 瓜神app Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio