Created to provide and maintain affordable housing in Davidson, the Davidson Housing Coalition (DHC) was established in 1997. But if you ask John Woods, a home-grown Davidson local, the seeds of inclusivity were sown long before then.
“In my youth of the ‘50s and ‘60s, Davidson was a small town, very isolated, not well connected to Charlotte. [Interstate 77] wasn’t here and Lake Norman didn’t exist. The College was the center of the town,” Woods, whose father worked as a physician for Davidson College at the time, said. “Almost everyone who lived here in those years worked at the College, from the janitors to the president and the faculty members. And it was like [how it is now], very open-thinking but not wealthy. We called it genteel poverty because professors didn’t make much money, and workers certainly didn’t make much money, and it wasn’t considered a big deal. In those days, we were all in one place together and we respected each other. It was idyllic.”
Today, Woods serves as the treasurer of the DHC, adopting the “serve everyone equally” mindset his father had while treating students at the College. He does this with the help of people like Connie Wessner, the executive director of the DHC.
“I joined the [DHC] board in ‘98 just as it was getting started, and the first project, The Bungalows, was under consideration at that point,” Wessner said. The Bungalows is a 32-unit apartment complex, still managed and owned by the DHC to this day. Since its completion in 2001, the DHC has added three more properties available for rent (Creekside Corner, Mock Road and The Cottages). The cultivation of these properties is a testament to the communal elements that make Davidson the place it is today.
“[In] 1998 there were no apartments around here at all. And when the Housing Coalition was formed, there was a real emphasis on homeownership. So when this problem was presented to the Housing Coalition that we’re about to lose all these rentals, [it became important] to think about rental apartments too. The organization did this charette [stakeholder meeting to discuss project], and the reason that The Bungalows look the way they do is because of that charette. We brought people in and asked, ‘What do these things need to look like?’ And people said, ‘Well, can’t you just make them look like the houses that we all live in?’” Wessner said with a little chuckle.
Two years ago, the DHC was able to acquire majority ownership over The Bungalows. Since that time, Sherri Merkerson-Latham was brought on as the property manager of all the Coalition’s rentals. Merkerson-Latham interacts with the residents on a daily basis, whether it’s helping with maintenance issues, explaining how rent changes are being handled and even driving out to help renters who’ve lost their keys.
“I treat everybody like family,” Merkerson-Latham stated. “That’s how I am. I would want to be treated the same way. I would want to have a nice place to live and a nice place to come home to each evening.” Aside from fitting in perfectly with the DHC’s vision of a community forged via relationships, Merkerson-Latham’s “treat everyone like family” approach also serves to regain some trust from DHC property residents. “Primarily in The Bungalows, the previous management wasn’t very nice to [the residents]. So they’re seeing [now] that we’re totally different from the previous management,” Merkerson-Latham said.
As the DHC has established and maintained its properties in Davidson, the new financial tasks have shifted from establishing to maintaining.
“It’s really sexy to build buildings,” Wessner said. “You can get financing for that. There are people out there that want to fund them. It’s exciting to build new because you can see you’ve made a change. It is not exciting to keep those buildings viable for a second generation to use, and that’s where we are today. In a tough economy, in an affluent place, finding the money to support the [DHC’s] philosophy is really hard.”
The Davidson College Presbyterian Church (DCPC) recently provided the DHC with a $175,000 gift to help prop up that philosophy.
“I was in a funny position, because as a member of the Church, I was on both sides of this thing,” Woods, who is a proud DCPC member, said. “[DHC] has lots of needs, and [the Church’s] contribution could really help us.”
This generosity from the Church was crucial for the DHC and its mission. “It’s critical for us because it’s also helping lay the groundwork for a shift in what residents experience in the here and now in these apartments, and that’s going to be really important for us,” Wessner said. “The tab for what we need to do is probably closer to about $600,000-700,000 for these buildings. There’s going to be a whole other round of improvements we have to do here.”
Dr. Carol Robinson ‘80 was a third-generation Davidson student when she graduated. After acquiring a PhD in special education with a math emphasis, Robinson returned to Davidson in 2006.
“I remembered loving the town and I just thought, ‘I’ll go back there for a little while and get a teaching job and figure out what to do next,’ and I didn’t want to leave,” Robinson said.
In 2013, Robinson’s financial situation changed and she felt she would no longer be able to live in Davidson comfortably. So, she turned to the DHC.
“I went to the Housing Coalition, and they were incredibly helpful with helping me see what was available in terms of affordable housing. And I was on every list for every place that was a possibility in Davidson for affordable housing, and The Bungalows was the first one that opened up. I had not even seen the inside of an apartment, but it opened. I think I had to wait four months, and according to the buzz on the street, that [was] lightning speed to find a place to live. I was very grateful that something opened up and took it sight unseen, and have been incredibly happy there. It’s been a great place to be.”
For the past three years, Robinson has served as a board member for the DHC in an effort to reciprocate the generosity the Coalition and the Davidson community have shown her.
“I just wanted to give back in whatever way that I could through being a board member,” Robinson said. “It was important to me that other people got the blessing of being able to stay here. On the open market, I’m not sure I could live in Davidson and that would’ve been a tremendous loss. I love Davidson and I’m just so grateful to have a place that lets me enjoy the Town and hopefully give back a little bit.”
