UNC Alumnus Recognized for Weaver Community Housing Association

In its September/October edition, the UTNE Reader, the nation's self-proclaimed leading magazine of alternative ideas, named Peebles as one of its "30 Under 30 Young Visionaries."

A 2000 UNC graduate, Peebles received recognition for her establishment of the Weaver Community Housing Association in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area.

WCHA led to the completion of the first cooperatively controlled nonprofit property in the Southeast.

"Some of our main principles are affordability, diversity and sustainability," Peebles said.

Peebles started WCHA when she became aware of the decline in the availability of affordable housing in the Chapel Hill area. Many times, absentee landlords subjected their renters to unfit and unsafe living conditions, she said.

"With having a landlord, you are only making the landlord rich," Peebles said. "You don't get to make any decisions, and there's a lot of bureaucratic red tape."

With the WCHA, renters pay a monthly amount that covers maintenance and they can make their own decisions, from what is planted in their gardens to how the budget is planned.

The property, located on Hillsborough Road, also has a 1000-square-foot community space where art shows, workshops and other activities are hosted.

Renters must make less than 60 percent of local median income of $38,000 to qualify for residence in the house.

Also, all renters on the property share the food budget, and they cook and clean as a group.

"We get the benefits of being a homeowner, but we're doing it all together," Peebles said.

Also working with the WCHA is the EmPOWERment Inc., a local affordable housing group established six years ago that deals more with low-income families than low-income students.

Mark Chilton, executive director of EmPOWERment, was recently appointed to the board of the WCHA because both groups focus on affordable home ownership.

"WCHA has only been able to produce one project," Chilton said. "I think that with its quality and intensity that its going to be an important player in affordable housing in Chapel Hill-Carrboro."

Next on the agenda, the WCHA wants to incorporate low-income families into its affordable housing plans.

Those who live in the WCHA house, like UNC graduate student Lief Foyer, who is a friend of Peebles, say they are more than pleased with the results of the housing situation.

"I just moved here a few months ago, and I think it has been pretty great to get involved with something that is part of the community," Foyer said.

Like Peebles, Foyer said he likes the way the house creates a family bond among the renters.

"Most of us are used to living with our families," Foyer said. "This is definitely a step away from that, but also it's still like living with a family, where all of the responsibility is shared between everyone."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.