of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for Chatham County, which is a volunteer role. We work very closely with [county] staff [including] one of their policy analysts, Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, who’s our county liaison. We also work with Triangle J Council of Governments and one of its staffers, Erika Brown. [She] has been with our committee for a number of years.
WHO’S WHO
IN TOWN & COUNTY GOVERNMENT SUSAN LEVY TALKS AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN CHATHAM COUNTY
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BY MEGAN TILLOTSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
usan Levy lives with her
husband, Franz Thomas, and their cat, Tyna, on 25 acres in the Harlands Creek community west of Pittsboro. She earned her bachelor’s in political science and history from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s in city and regional planning from UNC. Susan retired in 2018 after 26 years as executive director at Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. Today, she chairs Chatham’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. What is your role on the committee? I was still working [for Habitat of Orange County] when I was appointed [to the committee]. In 2019, I became the chair
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2022
What does this cause mean to you? What makes it valuable to Chatham County? Affordable housing [has] been a lifelong concern and passion of mine. I have always understood and believed that housing is a basic human right. It impacts so many aspects of individuals’ lives, but also the life of a community and the life of all of us, really. I do think [affordable housing] affects people’s mental health. It affects our education system, educational outcomes and health outcomes. [There are] so many aspects to having housing that is affordable to the whole spectrum of our community, from the lowest income to the highest. What are Chatham’s biggest challenges when it comes to affordable housing? I think it’s changed over time. There isn’t enough housing being produced at the lower end of the spectrum because costs are so high. When I moved here 30 years ago, I could buy 25 acres of land on a nonprofit person’s salary, which at the time was very low. It’s just not possible to buy land, or even to buy and own a house, because the costs have skyrocketed. I think the median sales price [for a home] right now in Chatham County is $618,000. I’m really shocked to even say that. … Rents have also increased quite a bit. We