Samuel Grier, the tall, thin, Black elder who lives on the eleventh floor of Crystal Towers, has resided at Crystal for approximately two decades now. He is the son of distinguished firefighter Robert Grier (no relation to actress Pam Grier). Sam often wears overalls and a colorful skull cap. Sam has a quick smile and a very agreeable p… More
Looking through the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem’s meeting notes recently, I noticed the frank language HAWS used to describe its Housing Choice Voucher program, also referred to as Section 8. HAWS’ November 8, 2022, minutes tell the story of a housing voucher program that is difficult for people to obtain and d… More
The W-S Journal’s Wesley Young estimated a hundred people crammed into HAWS’ tent at the former Brown Elementary School on a chilly Tuesday afternoon. HAWS’ modest-sized tent was packed with local politicians, non-profits, and developers. Outside the tent, a group of protesters demanded that public housing … More
The Arts Based School has been successfully operating in Downtown Winston for two decades, just behind Lloyd Presbyrtian, in what used to be the old Depot Street neighborhood. This year, they began operating a second school at the former Diggs Elementary in the historic Happy Hill neighborhood. Recently they requested that the Cit… More
For nearly a decade now, there have been serious plans to ‘transform’ the Cleveland Avenue homes. The process of erasing the Cleveland Avenue Homes and building NEWside has begun. According to HAWS’ documents, the first group of 28 residents has been relocated. On Monday, HAWS Director Kevin Cheshire told HAWS… More
On a cold January afternoon over a month ago, HAWS’ Executive Director, Kevin Cheshire, and Winston-Salem Alliance President and Mayor Allen Joines addressed the residents of Crystal Towers. At that meeting that was closed to the media and the general public, the residents of Crystal Towers were told that their building wou… More
On Tuesday, January 18th, just before noon the Winston-Salem Housing Authority (HAWS) and Mayor Joines held a long-overdue meeting with Crystal Tower’s residents. The threat of selling Crystal Towers has haunted Crystal Towers’ 200 elderly and disabled residents since the summer of 2018. Much to the surprise of thi… More
The Housing Authority of Winston-Salem appears poised to purchase the former SECU Commons property near Old Greensboro and Reidsville Road. According to HAWS’ board meeting notes, HAWS is in the process of acquiring 15 newly renovated apartment units and the rest of the former SECU Commons’ mix-used campus. Eventua… More
Why does the Housing Authority of Winston-Salem own a $3.5 million commercial building on Fourth Street that houses no one? This is a question that I have delved into in a previous post. But I’m back at it again. And this time, I have more documents on the subject to share.
… More“In July 2005 HAWS relocated its corporate office to
At the November 16 meeting of the Winston-Salem City Council, our centrist-Democrat-dominated governing body voted 7-1 to use $1 million from the City’s scarce housing assistance funds to subsidize development at Whitaker Park. Councilmember Dan Besse was the only member of the council who objected.
In today’s blo… More
