How Charlotte’s Real Estate Professionals Are Funding Homeless Shelters — and What that Says About Our Housing System
In Charlotte, North Carolina, a group of real estate industry professionals has pooled together $200,000 over the last 5 years to support the operations of local men’s shelter, Roof Above. And that’s just one of their beneficiaries. Thanks to The Homeowners Impact Fund, a nonprofit founded in 2020, local organizations say they’re really seeing a difference.
It’s certainly unusual for the unhoused members of a community to see any return on the housing market they’ve been shut out of, even a small percentage such as this. Is it helpful? Is it symbolic absolution? Probably a bit of both.
With the future of federal funding in flux, local services are likely to become more reliant on donations like this.
Real Estate Agents Give Back
The Homeowners Impact Fund was created by local real estate agent Vicky Mitchener. Mitchener is also the founder of one of Charlotte’s leading real estate firms, Dickens Mitchener, though she admits that running a nonprofit is much harder than running a for-profit business!
Mitchener goes on to reflect that she had seen the rise of homelessness while traveling in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., but seeing the tent cities popping up in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, really made it hit home for her.
Recognizing how she herself had been a beneficiary of the area’s real estate boom, she felt a responsibility to give back to those who found themselves on the other side of that boom. The mission of the Homeowners Impact Fund is to provide “a way for those benefitting from homeownership to collectively give their support to those experiencing homelessness.”
Changes to the Original Model
The original idea behind The Homeowners Impact Fund was to have everyone involved in a house closing pitch in a little money to help fund housing for others in the community.
Between the buyers, sellers, agents, attorneys, and lenders present at a typical house closing, that could add up to be a significant contribution. Plus, it had the added bonus of providing for unhoused neighbors at a time when donors are either securing their own housing or actively profiting off the commodification of housing. It’s the perfect time to draw attention to the shortcomings of the system that is leaving so many people stuck and unable to afford housing.
What stopped this model was the decrease in in-person closings during the early phases of the pandemic. Without having everyone in the room to pitch to, The Homeowners Impact Fund was not seeing as many donations as it expected. So the organization pivoted and invited everyone involved in Charlotte’s real estate industry to a big fundraising event.
The event was attended by real estate agents, architects, attorneys, developers, lenders, and more, who came together to raise more than one million dollars to be redistributed to organizations that provide services to the local homeless population. Some of the current beneficiaries of these funds are the men’s shelter Roof Above, Charlotte Family Housing, the domestic violence shelter Safe Alliance, and the faith-based organization Harvest Center.
Homeowners Impact Fund Benefit
The new fundraising model is reliant upon an annual fundraising event and auction called the Homeowners Impact Fund Benefit. Supporters and industry professionals gather at the Charlotte Country Club for an evening of lively programming, uplifting stories from recipients of the funds, a live auction, and sometimes even a raffle for a Rolex. 2025 auction prizes included custom artwork, rounds of golf, bottles of bourbon, and several stays in cabins, beach houses, or other vacation homes, both nearby and far-flung.
Through this method, The Homeowners Impact Fund has raised over $1 million and distributed over $400,000 into the community through local nonprofits. They hope to hit their goal of $1.5 million total raised by the end of 2026. They also provide some insight as to how far any one donation can go, highlighting that:
- $1,000 can provide fresh linens for 20 families
- $2,500 can provide a day’s worth of meals for over 400 people in local shelters
- $5,000 can provide one month of full shelter services for 50 families
- $10,000 can provide 90 nights in a domestic violence shelter for a survivor and child
- $15,000 can provide 1 year of permanent supportive housing for someone who had been chronically homeless
The method is working to attract large donors. The organization has also recently placed an emphasis on encouraging donors to make an annual pledge with at least a 3-year commitment so that they can better plan their funding and cash flow.
The Homeowners Impact Fund website lists donors who have contributed more than $1,000 at a time, with several entries in the $5,000- $9,999 range and even some in the $ 10,000+ range. Some may question the necessity of fancy fundraising events and layers of middlemen for funds to pass through. Still, it is hard to picture a donor like Wells Fargo ever being persuaded to donate $10,000 directly to a homeless person. But because of The Homeowners Impact Fund, those funds are in play and on their way to fund homeless services, even if they do have to trickle down a bit first.
As to whether all of this is actually having a positive effect in the lives of homeless people in Charlotte or if it’s just a way for those who profit from treating homes as investments to soothe their guilty consciences as they see the results of that system playing out in encampments all around their city, it’s almost certainly a bit of both. Undoubtedly, there are more effective and efficient ways for powerful people to address homelessness, but if this is all they’re willing to do at this time, every little bit can help.