Southside agencies and governments are coming together to draw attention to the myriad housing projects throughout the region while affirming their commitment to collaborate on future projects.
The new Regional Housing Development Program consists of the Harvest Foundation, Henry County, the Fuller Center for Housing of Martinsville-Henry County, Danville-Pittsylvania Habitat for Humanity, Landmark Asset Services and the West Piedmont Planning District Commission.
[Disclosure: The Harvest Foundation is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
“This effort is an outstanding example of the power of working together to leverage resources and commit to action to address a critical issue and ultimately, provide safe, affordable, and quality housing to the community,” said Chris Thompson, director of strategic housing for Virginia Housing.
“Ensuring access to safe, affordable housing is essential for the well-being and economic vitality of our region,” said Sean Campbell, deputy director of the West Piedmont Planning District Commission.
The partnership will allow participating agencies, all of which have contributed in some way to regional housing projects, to be more strategic in their work, he said.
The RHDP seeks to alleviate the region’s housing demand by increasing the supply of affordable housing. It plans to do this by pursuing three goals: increasing the region’s housing inventory, promoting collaboration and placing an emphasis on serving underserved groups.
The latter entails housing production in areas that have been overlooked. Increasing housing inventory touches on a number of different things, from new construction to renovating existing and blighted structures.
Henry County’s Villa Heights project is making use of this tactic.
In April, Henry County supervisors and project officials broke ground on Villa Heights, a subdivision of 13 planned houses, each with a $200,000 price tag. Construction on the first set of houses is underway; officials have said it’s too early to know when all of the homes will be completed.
Another project, announced on Sept. 15, comes via a $200,000 Harvest Foundation donation to the Fuller Center for Housing. Funds from the donation will cover up to five renovation projects per year within Martinsville and Henry County.
In a news release, Beth Stinnett, the Fuller Center’s executive director, expressed her gratitude for the donation.
“Affordable housing is a pressing issue nationwide and can be especially crippling in small, rural communities such as ours,” Stinnett said. “With the support of The Harvest Foundation, we can offer more families the stability of homeownership and positively impact the trajectory of the futures of those families.”
DeWitt House, the Harvest Foundation’s vice president for community investment, agreed.
“Home ownership is a vehicle for generational wealth and a pathway to economic mobility that can transform lives for decades to come,” House said in a press release. “Housing is needed at all levels in our community, and it is through strong partnerships like this regional initiative with the West Piedmont Planning District Commission that real progress is possible.”
Until last year, the Fuller Center was under the Habitat for Humanity umbrella before being rebranded. It has operated in Martinsville for 35 years.
In the Danville-Pittsylvania area, the WPPDC has worked alongside Habitat to promote affordable housing. Habitat Danville-Pittsylvania Director Krystal Davis praised the group’s “collaborative” efforts.
Most recently, the WPPDC has worked alongside Landmark Asset Services, a North Carolina-based property management company, on Seeland Valley Apartments, a new apartment complex expected to provide 52 rental units when completed.
West Piedmont Deputy Director Sean Campbell said groundbreaking has not begun on this project and the estimated start date is this December. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2027.
The project comes with a price tag of $14.5 million. Campbell said project funds are sourced from state and federal low-income housing tax credits and loans from Virginia Housing and other lenders.
