Spartan Alert

Center for Housing and Community Studies

Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week Panel

Posted on November 18, 2021

Panel: Homelessness in our Community

Dr. Stephen Sills, Professor and Director, The Center for Housing and Community Studies, moderates this community-focused panel of professionals who are working to address homelessness in Greensboro. Speakers include representatives from Tiny Houses Greensboro, The Servant Center, NC Housing Coalition, and more!

The panelist contact information and website links are below for you to reach out if you are interested in partnering with them in the future.

Adrienne Spinner, State Organizing Director, North Carolina Housing Coalition, [email protected], https://nchousing.org
Shanna Reece, Executive Director, The Servant Center, [email protected], www.theservantcenter.org
Scott Jones, Executive Director, Tiny House Community Development, Inc., [email protected], www.tinyhousesgreensboro.com

Equitable Housing Solutions & Community Violence

Posted on December 07, 2021

The United Nations declared “the right to adequate housing” to be a fundamental human right in 1991. Affordable and safe housing is a necessity for good health and for healthy communities. Poor and inadequate housing conditions are associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes. Similarly, the environmental and social characteristics of neighborhoods impact health outcomes and negative neighborhood conditions are associate with higher rates of violence and violent crime. Is it possible that by addressing both housing and neighborhood conditions, we can address the public health issue of violence?

The Housing Hangout was facilitated by Erica Payton Foh, PhD MPH, Assistant Professor of Public Health Education at UNCG and CHCS Research Fellow.

James Tuttle, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Montana
Catherine Johnson, Director, Family Justice Center Greensboro
Vincent Reina, Associate Professor City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania
Christina Plerhoples Stacy, Senior Research Associate, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center Urban Institute

When to call code enforcement

Posted on January 14, 2022

In this session we will hear from Mr. Troy Powell, Code Compliance Division Manager at the City of Greensboro. The Code Compliance Division investigates more than 11,000 properties per year to determine if reported issues violate City of Greensboro’s Code of Ordinances. By ensuring safe, healthy places to live, work and play, the division’s staff helps reduce the risk of declining property values and failing community pride.

PowerPoint: When to Call Code Enforcement

Worksheet: Final Property Self Inspection

Get the Lead Out!

Posted on January 14, 2022

Properties built before 1978 often used lead in paint and other building materials. These materials may be hazardous to the health of residents today. The City of Greensboro provides lead paint hazard reduction services at no cost as part of its Lead Safe Housing Program. Lead-Safe Greensboro provides grants to assist owners of single- and multi-family dwellings and rental properties with addressing unsafe lead paint conditions that pose a potential health hazard to young children. If your home meets the criteria, it could qualify for a federal grant funded repair program.

Mapping Equitable Communities

Posted on February 04, 2022

GIS for Social Good

An address is more than where a person lives and receives mail. Places dictate what kind of opportunities people will have, their access to healthy food, education, jobs, and even how long they will live. Mapping can be a powerful visual aid for people to understand their communities and relationships within it. Maps display where things are located (or not), patterns and trends, and can reveal policy implications. While maps have been tools for discrimination, segregation, and marginalizing voters, they are also used across many sectors for social good. Meredith DiMattina, GISP will be facilitating a panel of GIS professionals using mapping technology to reshape communities into accessible places where residents can thrive. Panelists will share their experiences and discuss unique perspectives on technology and equity from a national, local, and individual level.

Presentation Slides and Resources:

Speaker Bios:

Bonny P McClain is a speaker and geospatial analyst working with a wide variety of tools and resources focusing on open source data. As an author and collaborator Bonny’s most recent book is being published by O’Reilly Media this year, Python for Geospatial Data Analysis: Theory, Tools, and Practice for Location Intelligence. Bonny applies advanced data analytics, including data engineering and geo-enrichment, to poverty, race, and gender discussions. Her research targets judgments about social determinants, racial equity, and elements of intersectionality to illuminate the confluence of metrics contributing to poverty. Moving beyond ZIP codes to explore apportioned socioeconomic data based on underlying population data leads to discovering novel variables based on location to build more context to complex data questions. As a member of the National Press Club and 500 Women Scientists, Bonny is present at a wide variety of health policy and health economic discussions.

Ashley Hitt, GISP is the Vice President of GeoAnalytics at Connected Nation, a national leader in broadband expansion programs. She oversees operations, project execution, and strategic planning for the GeoAnalytics team and is responsible for developing strategies using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to provide data visualization solutions that impact policy, economic development, and the digital divide. She is a certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) and holds a bachelor of science in geography and a master of science in geoscience from Western Kentucky University. She was selected as the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association’s (URISA) Young GIS Professional of the Year in 2011, received the 2017 URISA Leadership Award and the 2020 URISA Service Award, and was elected as URISA President-Elect for 2021-2022.

Greg Babinski is a GIS management consultant and founder of GIS Management Consulting Services LLC, located in the greater Seattle area. Between 1998 and the end of 2021 he served as GIS Manager, GIS Finance Manager and GIS Marketing & Business Development Manager for the King County GIS Center in Seattle. Previously he worked for nine years as GIS Mapping Supervisor for the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland. He holds an MA in geography from Wayne State University. Greg is a GISP – Certified GIS Professional. Babinski is Past-President of URISA and founder and Past-Chair of URISA’s GIS Management Institute. In 2005 he founded The Summit – the Washington State GIS Newsletter. In 2019 Greg was awarded an EthicalGEO Fellowship by the American Geographical Society. In addition to GIS consulting, he is a GIS researcher, author, and instructor. He has spoken about GIS management across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Greg has taught GIS for Public Policy as an instructor with the University of Washington Evans Graduate School of Public Administration. In his spare time Greg likes ‘hiking steep, narrow and dangerous trails that lead high above the clouds to awesome views’.

Frank Romo hails from Los Angeles, California and is the founder of RomoGIS Enterprises: a data, design and research collaborative aimed at promoting the public good through innovative technical solutions and research. Frank has a long history of being a community advocate, planner and activist in the areas of urban design, public health, and social justice. As an entrepreneur Frank seeks to provide communities with the training and technical solutions needed to empower residents and inspire people to make an impact in their local communities. Frank currently works for the City of Detroit implementing new data strategies and methods to improve the city’s 911 system and public safety agencies. His overall mission is to use his expertise as a scholar and urbanist to improve the design, safety and livability of cities.

Racial Equity in Home Ownership

Posted on April 22, 2022

The Center for Housing and Community Studies convened its latest Housing Hangout today with a look at racially-disparate access to home ownership. Black families face greater obstacles to home ownership – predatory lending, abusive credit scoring, the legacy of redlining, low income. The result: a rate of home ownership that’s as much as twenty-five percentage points lower in Black communities than in white ones. We had a lively roundtable discussion about the broken system of home ownership access, and innovative ideas about how to fix it. We extend sincere thanks to our distinguished panel of experts:

Sonia Joyner, Director of Home Ownership Programs at the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency
Bruce Mitchell, Senior Research Analyst at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition
Vanessa Perry, Professor of Marketing and Professor of Strategic Management and Public Policy at the George Washington University School of Business and a fellow of the Housing Finance Policy Center of the Urban Institute
Doug Ryan, Vice President, Policy & Applied Research at Prosperity Now
Renee Willis, Senior Vice President for Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the National Low Income Housing Coalition

And thanks to our valued audience members who continue to support our Housing Hangouts year after year.

Meredith DiMattina, GISP

Posted on June 28, 2022

Meredith DiMattina, GIS Specialist

[email protected]

Meredith DiMattina is a Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) serving as the GIS Specialist for the Center. She is skilled in data analytics, cartography, web design, programming, spatial problem solving, and is well-versed with a variety of GIS technologies including open-sourced integration. In 2017 she completed a Master of Geospatial Information Science and Technology (MGIST) at NC State University. Meredith has a special interest in spatial risk assessments and process automation. She is an active member of URISA international and was recently elected to the executive board of the Carolina URISA chapter.

Dr. Kenneth Gruber

Posted on June 28, 2022

Dr. Kenneth Gruber, Senior Research Scientist

[email protected]

Dr. Kenneth Gruber is a research psychologist with over 40 years of research and program evaluation experience. His areas of specialty include data collection design and methodology, statistical analysis, program evaluation, technical writing assistance, and grant application review. His evaluation/research experience has covered a variety of community health topics including chronic illnesses, nutrition, adolescent pregnancy prevention, the impact of diet on health and weight management, health access for uninsured adults, substance use and environmental factors in the home affecting the incidence of asthma. He is currently working on projects relating to integrated care and treatment of co-occurring disorders for the insured adults, the impact of a rapid response and syringe exchange program in connection with address opioid overdose (GCSTOP), housing as a health issue, housing eviction and homelessness, and pediatric asthma.

Stefanie Ledwell

Posted on June 28, 2022

Stefanie Ledwell, Housing Navigator, Health Impact Team

[email protected]

Stefanie Ledwell, Housing Resources Navigator at CHCS, is a graduate of UNC Greensboro with a B.A. in Sociology, with a focus on Global Social Problems. She brings to her position a passion for economic and social justice, along with years of experience at nonprofits, and in social services and housing, advocating for clients and working to provide financial assistance for basic needs. Stefanie will provide direct assistance to clients, as well as working to build and maintain relationships with agencies, nonprofits, and landlords. She will also coordinate and oversee the efforts of the Center’s team of interns, work-study participants, and volunteers, who work to disseminate information about our program, as well as gathering data to support the Center’s research.

Renée Norris, JD

Posted on June 28, 2022

Renée Norris, Eviction Mediation Program Coordinator

[email protected]

Renée is a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park with a degree in Urban Studies. She also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore and is a member of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. Renée served as mediator for courts in Maryland and Pennsylvania during almost ten years of solo practice. More recently she held the position of Deputy Director at Greensboro Housing Coalition where she worked on various housing programs. She has had a long time interest in addressing housing issues and preventing homelessness. Renée believes that mediation can be of great benefit to tenants and landlords in resolving housing and eviction issues.