Asheville restaurants team up to fundraise for deeply affordable housing project

By Anjali Patel

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Asheville restaurants are banding together this holiday season with a mission: to raise money for a deeply affordable housing development and increase awareness about the local housing crisis.

Participating restaurants will choose an individual item, or a category of items, from their menu to feature and will increase the price of that item or category by $1 through Jan. 2. At the end of the fundraiser, all the extra money earned from those purchases will be donated directly to Haywood Street Community Development’s deeply affordable housing project planned for 339 West Haywood St. This year, the Wanda & James M. Moran Foundation has also agreed to match those donations up to $250,000.

It’s part of an expanded Benevolent Spirits fundraiser. In the past, Benevolent Spirits raised more than $24,000 to support World Central Kitchen’s efforts in Ukraine and more than $17,000 to ASAP’s Farmer Relief Fund in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Fred.

High Five Coffee is participating in the fundraiser. Owner and operator Jay Weatherly said they’ve raised the price of a specialty drink called “Refuge” by a dollar for the program through Jan 2.

“It’s a latte with ginger and date, and it’s served with date on the side and it’s also topped with smoked sea salt,” Weatherly said. “It’s really kind of a classic, a lot of holiday flavors, a really easy delicious drink and very warming, as well.”

The “Refuge” is symbolic of the spirit of what the drink is trying to accomplish — keeping others warm.

“People are kind of ready during this time to find a way to tune into something that the community knows is a really important issue,” Weatherly said.

Brian Combs, the founding pastor of the Haywood Street Congregation, which is behind the affordable housing development project, said the fundraiser can help in multiple ways.

“It will be remarkable in that, of course, the monetary needs for housing right now in such a volatile construction market will help, but every bit as importantly as the visibility as it brings to the project and the way in which it shares the story of how many folks in Asheville need affordable housing,” Combs said.

Combs said the project is eight years in the making.

“We’re at 100 percent construction drawings. We’re continuing to talk to lenders right now, and, if things continue as we hope, we’ll be moving during the first quarter of next year,” he said.

The affordable housing development will consist of 46 apartments, with a mix of 1- to 3-bedroom units for people who desperately need them.

“We’re talking about 30 percent area median income, 60 and 80 percent area median income and half of the units will go to voucher holders, which is the most desperate demographic of folks who need housing,” Combs said.

He said what makes this project unique is that the units will remain affordable — in perpetuity.

“Right now, much of what you hear about in the news is out-of-town developers who set aside a small percentage of units, which is important. But, unfortunately, many of those apartments go back to market rate after a decade or two,” he said. “We’d like to see more developers make a commitment to housing that won’t flip at any point in the future.”

He said this housing development will give 70 people a place to finally call home.

“More significantly, we hope it sets a precedent for doing affordable housing differently,” Combs said.

In addition to supporting the project through the Benevolent Spirits fundraiser, you can also donate to the Haywood Street Community Development here: interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E359147&id=11

List of restaurants participating in fundraising:

Burial Beer Cooperative Coffee Roasters Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse Farm Burger Copper Crown High Five Coffee Chai Pani Buxton Hall Barbecue Home Ground Coffee Bar Homegrown Sunny Point Cafe The Cantina Biltmore Blue Dream Curry House Curate Tapas Bar La Bodega by Curate

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