Affordable Housing Planned at Former Plato Price School
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Slim and trim: Panthers want rookie guard Deonte Brown to get smaller TThhee CChhaarrllootttteeTHE VOICE P POF THE BLACKo oCOMMUNITYss SINCEtt 1906 WEEK OF JULY 1, 2021 VOLUME 47, NUMBER 43 WWW.THECHARLOTTEPOST.COM $1.50 DA slams staff cut in NC Senate budget By Herbert L. White [email protected] Mecklenburg County District At- torney Spencer Merriweather is a critic of justice on the cheap. His office – along with judicial districts in Wake and Durham counties – will shrink if the North Carolina Senate’s budget be- comes law. Mecklen- Merriweather burg, Wake and Durham – three of the state’s most urban areas and Democratic ALLY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION strongholds – were the only juris- dictions to lose prosecutors, public The site of the former Plato Price School in west Charlotte will become the location of The Meadows at Plato Price, a $7.8 million afford- defenders or judges in the Repub- able housing community that will break ground in September. lican-sponsored bill, which passed June 25. Mecklenburg would lose a prose- cutor from its staff of 84, of which Affordable housing planned the state funds 58 positions, while the county and city of Charlotte fund the remainder. Wake would lose two public defenders and Dur- ham a District Court judge. The at former Plato Price School rollback, Merriweather argues, will extend delays, even as COVID-19 40-home Meadows at Plato Price development breaks ground in September restrictions decline against a back- By Herbert L. White a critical shortage of affordable housing $5.8 million for the development, the log of pending cases. “I know that I live in a district [email protected] in Mecklenburg County, where 15% of nonprofit’s largest planned community The former Plato Price School will be- homes for sale are within the range of ever. Ally’s foundation and the city will where I’ve seen 100 homicides the come home to affordable housing. households earning less than $50,000 a each invest $1 million. Habitat staff, last two years,” said Merriweather, A 40-home development, The year. volunteers and future homeowners will who has lobbied for more prosecu- Meadows at Plato Price, a partnership “Habitat Charlotte Region is com- build the homes tors since assuming the position in between Habitat for Humanity of the mitted to building the inventory of per- “Ally believes everyone deserves a 2017. “I know that we have homi- Charlotte Region, Ally Charitable Foun- manent affordable housing to serve path to financial stability and home- cide families that have been wait- dation, and the city of Charlotte, was multiple generations over time,” said ownership offers a clear path to finan- ing for a very long time to hold the announced last week. Groundbreaking Laura Belcher, president and CEO of cial security and economic mobility. person accountable who took away for the $7.8 million project on Morris Habitat Charlotte Region. “Our vision is Owning a home fosters health and job their loved one and if we have Field Drive between Wilkinson Boule- to remove barriers to homeownership security, and helps build generational fewer people to do this work, all vard and Billy Graham Parkway is for families, especially families of color, wealth,” Alison Summerville, board that does is stretch out that scheduled for September with a 2024 who have been shut out of homeown- chair of the Ally Charitable Foundation amount of time [before trial]. And completion date. ership opportunities, and instead offer and board chair of Habitat Charlotte Re- that is painful for people.” In addition to a revitalization vehicle access to vibrant, affordable com- gion said in a statement. “The Ally team The Senate’s cuts come amid a for the west Charlotte community, the munities.” is proud to be part of this milestone de- fiscal surplus that is expected to public-private collaboration addresses Habitat Charlotte donors will pitch in Please see 2A exceed $6.3 billion. The budget AFFORDABLE | was passed with a bipartisan su- permajority of 32-18 and referred to the House of Representatives for Please see PROSECUTOR | 2A Graduation day a NC evolves testament of high to managed schools’ resolve Medicaid By Herbert L. White [email protected] model Commonwealth and Stewart Creek high schools By Aaliyah Bowden took extraordinary measures to reach commence- [email protected] ment. The campuses, which last week graduated 100 stu- North Carolina is moving to a dents between them – half the size of a traditional new model for Medicaid. year, according to executive principal Jonathan Kay Starting July 1, the state will – serve students ages 16 to 20 with non-traditional move Medicaid and NC Health classroom settings and flexible scheduling. Choice from a fee-for-service Teachers, students and administrators had to rely model to managed care, also on technology to navigate the pandemic-induced known as the NC Medicaid Man- hurdles of off-campus academic. CITY OF CHARLOTTE aged Care transformation. Unlike “It was difficult,” Kay said. “We already know that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings' vision of improved customer the fee-for-service model, the new the students that we serve have barriers to their suc- service coincides with creation of the CommUNITY Collaboration, a department-wide program aims to be more inclusive cess that we're already trying to overcome. The ma- training program. by providing quality health care jority of our students are at-risk or caregivers that is comprehensive and ad- themselves. They traditionally haven't seen a lot of dresses social needs. success in high school so a big part of what we do, CMPD’s aim: Improve the “This new model will allow a along with educating them, is helping them over- more uniformed strategic ap- come barriers to their success to their life.” proach to addressing the social de- That meant helping students make arrangements terminants of health,” said for childcare, housing, and meals, all of which would customer service experience Tchernavia Montgomery, executive normally be handled in person. Instead, there were By Herbert L. White lotte. director of Charlotte-based Care video chats, phone calls and emails. [email protected] Training at roll calls and daily Ring, a health care access non- “For most of the year, due to the pandemic, of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police is team meetings will reinforce the profit. course, [it] added that additional variable, which going for kinder and gentler public curriculum. The new model will consider fac- made it much, much more challenging to get interactions – up to a point. “My vision is to bring a world-class tors such as a person’s access to through,” Kay said. “And so, what we did was spend The department last week an- hospitality culture to policing here health care, healthy food, transpor- a lot of time on Zoom, being in contact with families nounced the launch of CommUNITY in Charlotte-Mecklenburg,” Chief tation, housing, and economic using our family support specialists to figure out Collaboration, which CMPD officials Johnny Jennings said. “Why can’t we status. what’s the best way to support those kids and then, say is the nation’s first customer ex- look at a customer service base to As of June, Mecklenburg County now here we are.” perience training program for law ensure we are serving our cus- had 250,025 people on Medicaid, At Commonwealth and Stewart Creek, students en- enforcement. The goal is to foster tomers in a professional and courte- most in the state. roll in four-hour academic blocs that fit their per- more hospitable interaction through ous manner? You go into Chick-fil-A. North Carolinians currently en- sonal schedule, which allows them to balance the an online training course and four The employees are always polite, rolled in Medicaid may not have hours of in-person training at the friendly and the food is consistent. Please see COMMENCEMENT | 2A Please see NORTH | 2A police academy in southwest Char- Please see CMPD|2A INSIDE Please STAY IN TOUCH Digital edition: Sports 5A Snapchat: thecharpost www.thecharlottepostnewspaper.com Recycle Life 1B Twitter: @thecharpost A&E 5B To subscribe: (704) 376-0496 or online Facebook: The Charlotte Post Classified 4B http://tcppc.com/Subscribe Instagram: @thecharlottepost #PaperThursday 2A NEWS | The Charlotte Post Thursday, July 1, 2021 CMPD’s aim: Improve the Affordable housing customer service experience Continued from page 1A The school closed in the 1966 as Continued from page 1A embraced re-defining to every position, sworn velopment, which will give new life to CMS initiated a campaign to close its So, when you leave there, CMPD’s mission in areas and civilian.” a community with a rich history and Black campuses at the dawn of deseg- you have a good feeling that can be better served CMPD employees devel- a bright future.” regation. The city took ownership of about your interactions by civilians, such as mental oped the training and cur- The Meadows at Plato Price will in- the 9-acre campus and donated it to with them. health calls. riculum, which include clude walking paths and dedicated na- Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte “Why can’t we look at The customer service modernized communica- ture areas and its location near public Region. that and say we want to curriculum was developed tion techniques between transportation will make access to “This is about providing safe, af- provide that customer last fall by The DiJulius employees and the public, jobs in the city’s urban core. fordable, and easily-accessible homes service to our citizens? Group, a Cleveland-based videos of “a day in the life” Plato Price School, built for Black for Charlotteans who need them,” “When we leave, we give training consultant that ad- interaction, role playing students in 1915, was alma mater of Mayor Vi Lyles said.