WAKE COUNTY, N.C. – Families Together is one of eight nonprofit organizations in Wake County that received funding from the CARES Act to help in their efforts to reduce homelessness.

What You Need To Know

  • Families Together estimates 6,000 children in Wake County will go homeless this year

  • In North Carolina, 9,268 people are homeless on a given night

  • On average, 1,000 affordable housing units are lost in Wake County each year

The new funding will go to hotels for families until they are in permanent housing, along with their shelter expansion program and rapid rehousing.

Families Together is currently working to build a new onsite shelter that will be able to house four families. The units will consist of two, two-bedrooms and two, three-bedroom units.

“The shelter units going straight out of our property will be handicap accessible, which is part of the problem,” Karen Lassiter, Rehousing Manager for Families Together said.

Unlike other shelters, they are also able to keep families under one roof.

“We are able to house families together, where normally the father may have to go to one shelter and the mother and children have to go to a different facility,” Lassiter said.  

There are many barriers for people experiencing homelessness, but Lassiter says affordable housing, and the lack of it along with income, are major obstacles.

“The average rate for a two-bedroom is around $1,200 for most places you have to make three times the rent to qualify,” Lassiter said.

According to Families Together, 17,000 rental units are needed to fill the gap for people considered extremely low income, which equates to less than $24,000 per year for a family of four.

The City of Raleigh’s affordable housing bond that was passed in Nov. 2020 promised to create 5,700 affordable housing units by 2026.

 “For those who have transportation we have been able to house them outside of this area, but those who are in the Triangle area, the cost of living increasing,” Lassiter said.

As the Rehousing Manager, Lassiter’s job is to assist in finding temporary and permanent housing solutions but more importantly, empower each person she helps.

 “What can we do to help you help yourself, help your children, where you will be able to look at this as a stepping stone, that I took my time of homelessness to be that empowerment to becoming a permanent home owner,” Lassiter said.

This fiscal year, Families Together will be able to house 80 families and resolve an addtional 20 or so homeless situations. 

“No child should be left homeless. Everybody deserves a bed regardless of the situation they come from. Everyone deserves a safe place to sleep,” Lassiter said.

The organization also provides financial and employment assistance to help with building credit, resume writing and budgeting to help put families and people they help on the right path to becoming homeowners.

“Believing there is someone out there that is going to give them an opportunity to a brand-new start,” Lassiter said.