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Federal Programs and Local Organizations:
Meeting the Housing Needs of Rural Seniors

© Housing Assistance Council, 2001

Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use.

CARTERET COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Introduction

Carteret County is located on North Carolina's coast at the southern end of the Outer Banks. Most of the county's 52,556 persons live in small communities along its coastal shores.⁴⁶ Given its close proximity to the ocean and North Carolina's scenic Outer Banks, commercial fishing and tourism are two of the county's main industries. Carteret County boasts a strong economy with a median income of $32,000.⁴⁷ The county's unemployment rate is also low, yet often in flux due to the seasonal nature of its primary industries.⁴⁸ The poverty rate in Carteret County is almost identical to the national level of 12 percent, but slightly lower than North Carolina's average rate of 13 percent.

In addition to its more traditional industries, Carteret County has witnessed the emergence of a new economic and social development--elderly in-migration. With its mild climate and numerous recreational amenities, Carteret County is an ideal retirement destination for many seniors. In 1980, 11.6 percent of the county's population was age 65 or older; by the year 2000 its elderly population is expected to increase to 16.1 percent.⁴⁹ Local housing and service providers generally agree that a majority of Carteret County's elderly in-migrants are coming from other states, and from the Northeast in particular.

Carteret County has 21,238 occupied housing units, of which 74 percent are owner-occupied. Single-family homes are the predominant type of housing, comprising 71 percent of occupied units. Mobile homes are also prevalent in Carteret County, as they make up 23 percent of the occupied housing units. Collectively, single-family and mobile homes comprise 94 percent of Carteret County's owner-occupied units. Likewise, approximately 60 percent of the county's renter-occupied units are also either single-family structures or mobile homes. Carteret County has a high housing vacancy rate with 38 percent of its housing units unoccupied. Indicative of the county's recreation and tourism industry, 76 percent of these vacancies are classified for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use only. The median value of an owner-occupied unit is $73,100, which is somewhat higher than the overall North Carolina median value of $65,800.

Owner-Occupied Housing and Assistance for Elderly Homeowners

Consistent with national trends, most Carteret County seniors live in homes they own. Twenty- three percent of all households in the county were headed by an elderly person. Carteret County's elderly in-migration provides for some interesting housing characteristics among seniors. Housing providers in the county maintain this in-migration has led to a great "dichotomization" of the county's elderly residents. They note that most of the in-migrants tend to be more affluent than seniors who are long-time residents of the county. Consequently, these retirees often do not need or utilize housing assistance programs. However, local housing providers state this dichotomization has presented some unique problems in the provision of affordable housing for elders. While the in-migration of more affluent elders has helped to stimulate the county's economy, it has also drastically increased property values which have in turn increased property taxes. Homeownership values have increased so much that, in some instances, elders are being forced out of their homes because of an inability to pay property taxes. These cost increases have not been limited to property taxes, but also to essentials such as food and the general cost of living.

The county's strong economic situation, heightened in part by the elderly in-migration, may in fact be overshadowing many housing problems of low-income and long-time elderly residents. The 1990 Census indicated that only 2 percent of Carteret's housing stock was substandard. However, local housing providers maintained that substandard housing was by far the most significant problem facing elderly homeowners in the county, particularly among lower-income and minority seniors. Furthermore, the elderly dichotomization may also hinder low-income housing development due to a false perception of decreased need. As one housing provider stated, "when you have a county median income of $32,000 you often get overlooked in grants based on need, but in Carteret County that doesn't tell the whole story because these incomes are being inflated by more affluent elderly in-migrants."

Geographic features unique to Carteret County also greatly affect elderly homeowners. Located directly on the coast, the area frequently experiences large storms and hurricanes. These natural disasters often exact a devastating toll on elderly residents and their homes. Many seniors live in older homes or mobile homes which have physical inadequacies. The storms exacerbate deterioration of these already susceptible homes. Low-income elders often do not carry insurance on their homes and housing providers maintain they typically only receive minimal financial assistance if the storm results in the county being declared a federal disaster area.

In response to many of these housing problems, Carteret County has several organizations and efforts in place to help meet the rehabilitation and service needs of low-income elderly homeowners. The most prolific of these is RHS. The local Rural development office facilitates a significant amount of rehabilitation activity through its Section 504 program. In addition, and sometimes in conjunction with Rural Development several other housing organizations and service providers assist elderly homeowners in the county.

One organization in particular is St. Stephens Redevelopment Corporation, a nonprofit housing organization formed to meet the critical housing needs of low-income communities within Carteret County. This nonprofit is an offspring of its parent, St. Stephens AME Zion Church. St. Stephens completes rehabilitation work with laborers who are learning construction related skills as a trade through a federally funded job training program. The job training component is important for several reasons. While providing inexpensive labor and helping to produce skilled workers, it also addresses a deficiency in the county's housing service network. Many housing service providers in Carteret County maintained there is a significant shortage of contractors who are willing to undertake small scale rehabilitation jobs. It appears that most local contractors are involved in larger developments in the county's more upscale waterfront districts. In many cases, St. Stephens also provides additional funds to augment the extent of the rehab beyond what can be achieved by the Section 504 grant amount and its certain limitations. In addition, St. Stephens and its parent church often acts as facilitators between the community and service providers such as Rural Development. They conduct outreach seminars, counseling, and package grant and loan applications.

Coastal Community Action (CCA) is another prominent service and housing provider for elderly households in Carteret County. Like many community action agencies they provide several programs which benefit the community and its elderly residents. Among these, CCA has two grant programs specifically related to housing improvement for elderly residents and persons with physical disabilities. CCA also actively networks to provide their services in conjunction with other housing providers. Their weatherization program provides grants up to $1,800 per home toward repairs. The repairs most often involve insulation, window replacements, and installation of heating units to make homes more energy efficient and habitable. CCA's weatherization program is one of the largest in North Carolina, performing over 200 weatherizations annually. CCA also recently launched a new Emergency Repair Program. This state-funded program allows for more extensive repair work than the weatherization program. Up to $3,500 per unit may be allocated to alleviate imminent threats to life, safety or the displacement of elderly low-income homeowners. This new program has been greatly welcomed as a way to increase the scope and extent of CCA's rehabilitation endeavors. Despite its initial success, the program has encountered some obstacles. Regulations that restrict the use of Emergency Repair funds in conjunction with any other federal funds, prohibit the leveraging of funds which are often necessary to make housing rehabilitation programs effective.

CCA also offers programs such as Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions which facilitates volunteer services for elderly households to help with transportation, cleaning, companionship and other basic needs.

Rental Housing Options for Seniors

Elderly residents of Carteret County have several subsidized rental housing options available to them. These primarily derive from federally funded programs such as HUD's Section 202, RHS' Section 515 or the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

One hundred of these units are in Ekklesia I and II, Carteret County's only Section 202 projects. Ekklesia I consists of 80 garden style apartments which were built in 1983, and have been recently joined by Ekklesia II, a 20-unit single structure complex adjacent to the initial Ekklesia complex. The two Ekklesias share their name with the nonprofit corporation which sponsors them. Ekklesia, Inc. is a nonprofit housing organization established in the early 1980s to address elderly housing needs in Carteret County. It was founded out of an ecumenical collaboration between four large churches in the county. Currently, Ekklesia's board is comprised of members from all four churches as well as the community at large. Ekklesia's housing efforts have concentrated exclusively on the provision of elderly housing in Carteret County. The complexes' management services are contracted out to a private for-profit firm. Most of Ekklesia's residents tend to be "older old" persons with average ages ranging between 75 and 80. Single women make up 81 percent of the residents, while only four units are occupied by couples or more than one individual. Tenant incomes tend to be very low, averaging only around $6,000. Most of the tenants' income derives from Social Security pensions and Supplemental Security Income. Ekklesia provides project-based Section 8 assistance, which subsidizes rents to an average of $96 per tenant.

One particular aspect of Ekklesia is its attention to services. In addition to a property manager and maintenance personal, Ekklesia retains a full-time activity director and services director whose job is funded by a grant from HUD. The services director has been vital in ensuring that the special needs of elderly tenants are adequately addressed. In many cases the services director acts as a liaison arranging needed services, such as medical or nutritional assistance. Ekklesia's activity director coordinates numerous functions to enhance socialization and well-being among the residents. These activities range from bible studies and pot-luck dinners to educational activities such as seminars by the police on how tenants can protect themselves from fraud and elder abuse. Ekklesia staff also noted that tenants have close kinship ties with their families who visit often and are the primary source of assistance and companionship for residents.

Another rental option for low-income elderly residents of Carteret County is Camellia Court Apartments. Camellia Court is sponsored by East Carolina Community Development, Inc. (ECCD), an offshoot of Carteret Community Action Agency. Formed in 1995, ECCD is a full range community development corporation and is actively engaged in the development and finance of low-income rental and homeownership programs.

Camellia Court provides 48 units of multifamily housing to persons over 55 years of age who earn less than 50 percent of the area median income. The project was completed in 1998 and is fully leased up. Financed with LIHTC, the project provides reduced rate rents of $295 for one bedroom, and $340 for two-bedroom apartments. A few of the residents also receive tenant-based Section 8 rental assistance in addition to the reduced rents. Because of the lower age limit at Camellia Court, many of the residents tend to be relatively young and more active, as a considerable number of tenants still hold at least part-time employment. Approximately 20 percent of the residents receive some sort of assistance with activities of daily living either from family, volunteers, or community based service organizations. Camellia Court has no formal service provision or coordination available to tenants. However, ECCD is actively pursuing avenues to finance or develop such services. ECCD staff note the importance of such services to the well being of their tenants, but also maintain these services are vital to the well being of the project itself. Tenants with a greater choice of services are likely to have higher satisfaction with their housing and subsequently the project will experience lower turnover and vacancy rates. ECCD is one of the first nonprofit housing providers in Carteret County to develop housing for elderly residents with tax credits. While tax credits are somewhat more complicated than other subsidy programs, ECCD maintains they can be just as effective and efficient in meeting elderly rental needs in rural areas.

Tenants at Ekklesia and Camellia Court are typically long time residents of Carteret County, and very few in-migrants utilize these subsidized housing projects. The demand for elderly housing projects in Carteret County, such as Ekklesia and Camellia Court remains high. Applicants average approximately eight months on Ekklesia's waiting list, and ECCD is currently building another multifamily complex which will serve some elderly households. This is not surprising, as close to half of Carteret's elderly renters are cost burdened and in need of decent and affordable rental options like the Ekklesia projects and Camellia Court Apartments. In addition to these projects there are 232 Section 515 units in the county. A small portion of these are solely dedicated for elderly occupancy.

Services for Elderly Residents

In response to its large and growing elderly population, Carteret County has developed many services to assist elderly residents. Most of these are publically funded programs which provide services like transportation, healthcare, meals and companionship. In addition, many of the county's small communities have individual senior centers which further facilitate these programs. Several elderly rental housing providers stated that a number of their tenants attended the various senior centers regularly. The centers usually offer daily meals at a nominal price and provide activities like physical fitness programs. Many seniors, particularly those living in some of the subsidized rental complexes, utilize public transportation services to commute to senior centers and other locations such as stores and shops. Housing service providers in the county generally agreed that the service network is highly effective in meeting seniors' needs in the county. Typically, the services are provided through informal networks; however, some housing organizations provide or coordinate them directly. These services are difficult to distribute in highly rural counties such as Carteret County, yet local service providers maintain they are vital to the care and well being of elderly residents.

Collaborative Efforts

Carteret County has several active collaborations which greatly accentuate the provision of elderly housing services. One collaboration in particular involves three housing and service organizations. The concerted effort of these groups greatly assists elderly homeowners to receive repairs and rehabilitations of their homes. The centerpiece of this collaboration the RHS and its Section 504 home rehabilitation program. The contract work for many of these Section 504 grants is completed by St. Stephens Redevelopment Corporation. The third component of the elderly rehabilitation collaboration in Carteret County is CCA, with their various housing assistance and senior programs.

This collaborative pastiche involving federal agencies, churches, nonprofits and community action groups, has been instrumental in providing much needed housing rehabilitation for seniors in Carteret County. Its not unusual for a senior's home which has been rehabilitated in Carteret County to have various components of work completed by each of the three entities in the unofficial collaboration. For example, an elderly resident in need of housing repairs could be referred and assisted in application procedures by the local church. The client then might receive a $7,500 Section 504 rehabilitation grant from RHS, and have the repairs performed by St. Stephens Redevelopment Corporation. Then CCA would augment the work with an additional $1,800 in weatherization repairs and offer support services from their senior programs to help elderly residents maintain adequate homes and independent living.

This system of delivery involves a lot of "trading off," as described by one housing provider. Deals are often made through informal conversation along the lines of, "If you put a new roof on this house I'll do the insulation and windows." In the course of such conversations, referrals are also often made. For example, one collaborative partner might state, "I'm doing some weatherization work on an elderly lady's home over in Beaufort, but she really needs a bathroom. Can you help?" These groups utilize a high degree of social capital through their tight community service network. This synergetic approach to elderly housing rehabilitation has greatly expanded the extent of work throughout the entire community. Many homeowners assisted through this collaboration are elderly African-American women living alone in substandard housing. Housing providers noted that several of these women did not even have bathrooms or running water before their homes were rehabilitated.

Of particular significance is the active role of many faith-based organizations in these collaborations. Religion is a strong force in this region, and faith-based organizations in Carteret County have used their influence to facilitate and, in the provision of elderly housing. This facilitation is important at the individual level as well. Several local housing providers mentioned that some seniors were reluctant to participate in any rehabilitation programs because of a fear of fraud or home repair scams. Therefore, a significant religious presence has become helpful in reassuring skeptical elders. As one housing provider noted, "Churches and religious figures are very well respected in this area, and their involvement helps bring a great deal of trust among the elderly people we serve."

Overview and Local Recommendations

Carteret County's elderly in-migration characteristics have undoubtedly influenced the provision of a greater range of elderly housing options. Unlike many rural counties, it offers senior housing options in each category of the elderly housing continuum. In addition to many traditional and planned housing units, there are several board and care homes, three nursing homes, and a growing number of assisted living units. Some of these options, such as assisted living units, may not be financially attainable for all seniors. Elderly housing providers maintain that the influx of primarily wealthier migrants has overshadowed serious elderly housing problems in the county. However, there are several subsidized rental units and rehabilitation programs dedicated to the housing needs of lower income seniors. Active nonprofit housing providers have played a key role in attaining these federal funds for development. Carteret County and its housing and service networks have laid the groundwork for meeting the increasing elderly housing need. Its primary strength is an active collaboration network at various levels which addresses every component of the elderly housing continuum.

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