Union County Housing Authority honors partners keeping housing accessible

Keeping housing affordable in Union County depends on more than vouchers. It depends on landlords, contractors, volunteers and staff who keep apartments repaired, homes usable and residents from falling through the cracks.

The Union County Housing Authority used its annual awards banquet Wednesday in Lewisburg to recognize that work, honoring staff, community partners and program participants with awards that included the Raymond J. Lobos Memorial Award, the Charles W. Winslow Success Award, the Charles W. Winslow Service Award and the Making a Difference Award.

The authority, created in 1972, does not run a public housing program. Instead, it works through the private rental market with the Housing Choice Voucher program and says federal Housing and Urban Development funding supports about 499 families. Union County says the agency operates with a five-member voluntary board, an annual budget of more than $2 million, 10 full-time employees and 6 part-time employees, and it receives no direct county tax dollars for housing programs.

That structure matters in a county where affordability is only one part of the problem. Union County says the authority has helped renovate more than 1,100 homes, a sign that keeping existing housing in service is as important as building new units. The county also points to the Union County Community Services Center in a renovated warehouse on Industrial Boulevard in Lewisburg as an example of the authority’s broader approach to housing and related services.

One of the clearest examples is the Justice Bridge Housing Program. It serves nonviolent offenders with substance abuse disorders and provides monthly rental subsidies for up to 12 months, or until participants move into a Housing Choice Voucher or market-rate housing. The program also pairs housing assistance with support services while people are on parole or probation, showing how access to a unit can be tied to stability, recovery and reentry.

The local need is reinforced by Census Bureau data that put Union County’s estimated population at 42,313 on July 1, 2025. The county’s median gross rent was $974, while 20.5% of residents were age 65 or older and 7.5% of residents under 65 lived with a disability. In a county with an aging population and modest rents, the challenge is not just finding housing. It is keeping homes affordable, repaired and accessible enough for people to stay put.