More than 45 leaders gathered for the monthly Clergy/Institution Leaders Meeting on November 4, 2025 at Watts Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC, advancing our strategy to bring meaningful change to affordable housing in Wake County. Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell presented information on ways the city is working with faith communities who are considering repurposing their land for affordable housing development. While acknowledging that these projects are not on the scale of what we are seeking with the Nehemiah Project, she said it does help to address infill and some immediate needs.

Mayor Cowell committed to giving ONE Wake a seat on a bond referendum committee, once the city has a plan for moving forward. She encouraged ONE Wake to continue pressing the county and other municipalities to join Raleigh in adding to the inventory of affordable housing. She referenced a recent meeting of the Wake County School Board and County Commissioners, where school land was discussed (ONE Wake had a representative in attendance).

Other business included a debrief from the Cary Town Council Candidate Forum. The outcome was positive in terms of acknowledging the power of ONE Wake to draw candidates as well as town officials not up for election. The turnout suggests that we reconsider being bound by early-voting hours (for a march to the polls) when scheduling future events. 

Other key points from the monthly meeting:

• Training for faith communities who wish to consider repurposing their land needs to be developed, perhaps leveraging what others have experienced.
• The internal fundraising committee is encouraging participation within our organization as we engage more individual donors. 
• Key to all of this work is expanding the number of member organizations in ONE Wake - all in attendance were urged to bring a new face to the December 2 meeting, as we leverage our connections to broaden this group.

Register for the next Caucus (the first Tuesday of every month at 11 am at Watts Chapel).