History – Inlivian

The Housing Authority of The City of Charlotte was successfully established by the North Carolina Secretary of State in June 1939.

The U.S. Housing Act of 1937 created the Public and Indian housing program, which now provides housing that is affordable to over 1.3 million households nationwide. The aim of the Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) is to ensure affordable, safe, decent housing; create opportunities for residents’ self-sufficiency and economic independence; and assure fiscal integrity by all program participants. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is responsible for administering and managing a range of programs authorized and funded by Congress under the basic provisions of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937.

In response, in December 1938, the pioneering Charlotte City Council recognized the need for a public housing authority in Charlotte. The Council believed that sanitary, safe housing, at rents, which persons of low income could afford, did not exist in the City of Charlotte or its surrounding areas. Mayor Ben E. Douglas appointed a group of five citizens to complete the application for incorporation of the Housing Authority of the City of Charlotte, and it was successfully established by the North Carolina Secretary of State in June 1939.

2019 marked 80 years of CHA serving families in the city of Charlotte.

Historic Timeline

2012

A. Fulton Meachem Jr. named President/CEO of CHA. Meachem provides new leadership and a new outlook. “The Charlotte Housing Authority is not all about sticks and bricks.”

2013

Grand Opening of The Retreat at Renaissance, the first phase of CHA’s fifth HOPE IV Grant for $20.9 million, which was granted to redevelop boulevard Homes in west Charlotte in The Renaissance.

2015

CHA is one of nine public housing authorities across the county selected to receive a Jobs Plus Demonstration Grant. CHA will use $2.24 million awarded over four years to help adults at Southside Homes enter the workplace.

2004

CHA received its fourth HOPE VI Revitalization Grant. HUD granted CHA $20 million to revitalize the dilapidated Piedmont Courts in the Belmont Community into a mixed-income neighborhood renamed Seigle Point.

2008

CHA became a Moving to Work agency. One of 35 agencies at that time in the country chosen to participate, the initiative’s main goal is to promote employment and self-reliance through innovative methods to improve housing services and better meet local needs.

1993

CHA received its first HOPE VI Revitalization and Demolition Grant. HUD granted CHA over $41 million to revitalize Earle Village into a mixed-income community, now called First Ward.

1996

CHA received its second HOPE VI Revitalization Grant. HUD granted $24.5 million to revitalize Dalton Village into a mixed-income neighborhood renamed Arbor Glen.

1998

CHA received third its HOPE VI Revitalization Grant and becomes national leader in revitalizing blighted neighborhoods. HUD grants CHA $34.7 million to tear down and rebuild Fairview Homes, now called The Park at Oaklawn.

1983

CHA Scholarship Fund is born. John T Crawford, CHA Director of Youth Services, created the Charlotte Housing Authority Scholarship Fund to assist housing authority students with higher education.

1970

Dalton Village and Boulevard Homes finished construction. Both newly developed apartment communities contained 300 public housing units. To qualify for housing at these sites, a two-member family could earn no more than $3,900 annually.

1965

CHA plans approved for new seniors building, Edwin Tower. The 13-story apartment building encompassed 175 units. The high-rise was built on the block bound by N. Church, N. Poplar, W. Ninth and Tenth Streets in Uptown Charlotte.

1968

The Supreme Court signed the Fair Housing Act which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. It also provided protection for civil rights workers.

1959

Housing Authority Director, Harold Dillehay honored for 20 years of service. At the ceremony, Dillehay described his primary interest as people, not housing. “It is people who make citizens,” he said. “In the past 20 years, I have had an opportunity to help people make good citizens of themselves, and it has been gratifying.” By 1959, 1,420 units of affordable housing had been erected during his tenure at CHA.

1940

In 1940, the Housing Authority of the City of Charlotte opened its first assisted housing community, Fairview Homes.

1941

CHA’s second public housing community opened. Piedmont Courts served Charlotte’s Caucasian community and contained 368 units with rents ranging from $9.00 to $14.00 monthly.

1939

The Charlotte Housing Authority was formally established on March 1, 1939. Edwin L. Jones was elected Chairman of the Board and H.J. Dillehay was named Executive Director.