Early on in the formation of the Housing Initiative the NC Association of Community Development Corporation saw the value of what had been and could be accomplished. They offered support, technical assistance and sage advice from veteran community organizers. They made us aware that Brunswick was not the only County experiencing this crisis. The twenty coastal counties of North Carolina are in greater or lesser degrees in a housing crisis also.

The NC Association of CDC's aided us in tailoring the Housing Initiative to have a focused impact with the objective of changing policy as a strategy to increase workforce/affordable housing in Brunswick County. They became and still are a primary supporting partner of the Housing Initiative in Brunswick County. Their statewide perspective brought a different light to our coastal community. In an unprecedented move the NC Association of CDC’s invested $50,000 into Brunswick County by commissioning The Brunswick Workforce Housing Study.

The Study was performed by national housing experts Dr.’s Rohe and Cowan at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill. The Study was designed to render data, trends, statistics, strategies and recommendations. The release of the BWH Study in July of 2007, gave a toolbox of strategies and recommendations along with the supporting data to change the face of housing in Brunswick County.

The full study can be downloaded from this link at Center for Urban and Regional Studies, UNC-Chapel HIll.

 http://curs.unc.edu/curs-pdf-downloads/recentlyreleased/Brunswick%20County%20Report.pdf