State Employees CU Pilots Affordable Housing Project

AHOSKIE, N.C. – State Employees CU joined local school representatives to break ground on a 24-unit affordable housing project aimed at attracting more teachers to this low-income rural county in the northeastern corner of the state. The SECU Foundation, which is funded by members of the state’s largest credit union, is providing a $2 million no-interest loan to build the project. The SECU Foundation will recycle the rent money to build similar projects to help attract teachers in other underserved parts of the state. The apartments, slated for occupancy next July, are located a short walk from the local elementary and high schools. Rent is supposed to be $500. The Hertford County school system has had difficulty recruiting and retaining good teachers because of the lack of good affordable housing in the area. The SECU Foundation is one of the biggest charitable funds created by a credit union and provided more than $6 million in college scholarships each of the last two years to every state college and university in North Carolina.