NC Health News – Sunlight pours through stained glass windows onto rows of wooden pews that, on occasion, still hold hymnals. But Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church, where those same windows once illuminated weekly worship, is gone. In its place stands Milner Commons, an affordable housing complex for older adults that is designed to preserve pieces of the church’s past while serving a new purpose.
North Carolina faces a deepening affordable housing shortage, with estimates suggesting the state would need to add between 200,000 and more than 700,000 rental and for-sale units to meet demand through 2029, according to a 2024 study commissioned by the NC Chamber Foundation. That strain falls hardest on extremely low-income households — where 73 percent of low-income renters spend more than half their income on housing, said a national analysis. This housing burden leaves little room for other essentials such as food and medical care.
For seniors on fixed incomes, the state’s broader housing shortage often translates into fewer options to age safely and independently — a gap that nonprofits are trying to fill through community partnerships…