FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — There's an affordable housing crisis across the nation and some have said it's happening right here in the Triad too.
The homeless population has grown in Forsyth County as people struggle to pay for rent or their mortgages.
The organization Folks for Good Housing started a year and a half ago to address the problem and build those homes from the ground up.
Richard Angino, founder of the organization, said he has been working in affordable housing for more than 30 years. His mission now is to put a roof over people's heads that they can actually afford.
"To be affordable and not stretched, the logic is that you spend less than 30% of your income on housing. When you look at the statistics for Winston-Salem you have a ton of people who live paying more than 50% of their income towards housing," Angino said.
According to the City of Winston-Salem, there's a shortage of more than 1,600 affordable homes. This is based on a study done pre-pandemic.
Angino said his organization has built a 48 unit complex on Kester Mill Road. He also said he has multiple shovel ready properties including at the Budget Inn Location which could house 74 units.
"What's happening is we have more and more apartment complexes converting over to the larger rents and its displacing a good amount of our workforce who can't stay in the city just because they don't have a place to live in that sense," Angino said.
He also said because people can't afford rent in the city, they're moving to places like Thomasville, or they have ended up in dire situations.
"We have a lot of properties that we look at and people are living in the woods on our sites. It's a lot of tent communities that are out there right now and that's just one indication that we have such a shortage," Angino said.