WORLD CAFÉ ON Housing & Homelessness
Feb. 23, 2016. Biotech Place, Wake Forest Innovation Quarter
This world café drew 120 participants who discussed how to boost access to and the inventory of affordable housing, and how to ensure that residents take advantage of existing housing programs. Participants were also asked to brainstorm new approaches for reducing or eliminating homelessness.
Prompts for the table discussions were:
1. How might we enhance access to decent, affordable housing for all Winston-Salem residents? What incentives (or regulatory requirements) might encourage developers to increase the stock of affordable housing, and encourage landlords to keep buildings in good shape?
2. How best to enhance qualified residents’ participation in existing programs of housing support? These include education about the benefits of homeownership and efforts to enable those in public housing to transition to the housing market. Relatedly: how to expand our most successful housing-support programs?
3. What new or expanded policy approaches could help reduce or even eliminate homelessness in Winston-Salem?