Raleigh single dad on brink of homelessness as family seeks affordable housing

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A single father on the brink of being without a home turned to CBS 17 for answers.

Lonnie Williams, who is blind, said he is on the verge of living on the streets, if he doesn’t find a new place soon.

But because of the high cost of housing in Raleigh, he’s struggling to do so.

“I am worried about having a place for my kids,” said Williams. “It’s even effecting my daughter because she has a little conflict at school with some of her friends and the counselors called me and told me that she even told them that she was thinking about committing suicide so … that really hurt me and she said that it’s kind of because she knows what her daddy is going through.”

Williams received a letter December 12, 2018, from his current landlord, Passage Home, stating he had to vacate the premises by January 3.

“It’s really kind of frustrating, with me being blind and not able to look. I’ve asked people to help me look,” said Williams.

CBS 17 reached out to Passage Home, which is an anti-poverty agency.

CEO Seth Friedman sent this following email:

“Passage Home has been a leader in advocating for, developing, and managing safe, stable, and affordable housing in Wake County for three decades. Affordability is important, but equally important is making sure the housing is safe and stable for all residents. Safety and stability affords our residents the security needed to focus on long-term goals such as education, healthy child-rearing, and improved employment in an effort to create self-sufficiency.

The non-renewal letter attached is indeed valid. However, it was a difficult but necessary decision to not renew Mr. Williams lease. The decision was made in the best interests of all of our clients and the overall condition of our Coleman St. facilities. We received five noise complaints in regards to Mr. Williams apartment since 2017, and—upon inspection—we saw extensive damage to our unit that included holes in walls, vent damage, damage to electrical outlets, carpets heavily stained, and general unsanitary conditions. Concerns about the above mentioned issues were discussed with Mr. Williams on several occasions and documented.

Passage Home is Wake County’s anti-poverty agency with a mission to break the cycle of poverty for individuals and families of Wake County by helping them achieve housing and income security. We are well aware of the housing affordability issues facing our area and have plans to help develop nearly 500 units of housing within the next several years to help off-set these issues.

Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions.”

Now, Williams has turned to HUD for help. But even that is a struggle.

“I still haven’t found one. And even with Section 8, it’s still hard for me to find a place,” said Williams

The problem is not just impacting the Williams family. The Raleigh Housing Authority says there are more than 8,000 families on its public housing waiting list the booming real estate market in the city is adding to the problem.

Larry Jarvis is the director of housing and neighborhoods for the City of Raleigh. He works closely with city leaders to create more affordable housing.

“We’ve got around 32,000 cost burden renters in Raleigh, which means that they are paying more than 30 percent of their income towards rent and utilities. We’ve got about 16,000 that are paying more than their income towards rent and utilities,” said Director of Housing and Neighborhoods Larry Jarvis.

Jarvis says the city is investing in more affordable housing in the coming years.

“When someone has to choose between paying rent or you know buying medicines or kids clothing .. and thy kind of thing , it just boils down to difficult choices sometimes,” said Jarvis.

But that help won’t come soon enough for Lonnie Williams and his family.