‘Housing is dignity.’ Warnock tours example of what $4.3 million will help Columbus build

Columbus resident Vera Adams and her husband, Kenneth, are raising three of their grandchildren.

Kenneth worked as a contractor, helping to build NeighborWorks Columbus’ affordable housing project Elliott’s Walk. Neither he nor Vera knew that this neighborhood would be where Vera would purchase a home, becoming a first-time homeowner and providing a place to live for three of her grandchildren, ages 5, 7, and 8.

Vera told U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock about this twist of fate Monday morning, with her home being his first stop on his tour of housing developments in Columbus.

Warnock, who worked to secure $4.3 million in funding for affordable housing projects by NeighborWorks Columbus and the Housing Authority of Columbus, toured NeighborWorks’ Elliott’s Walk and the sites of upcoming developments during his visit to Muscogee County on Monday morning.

A Georgia Tech study presented to the Columbus Council last year found the city faces a growing shortage of affordable and available housing in the region. The study says the region needs more than 14,000 new housing units in the next decade, but developers noted rising interest rates and costs of building materials contributed to slow construction.

Kimberly Hinton-Poole, president and CEO of NeighborWorks Columbus, said her team doesn’t shy away from these challenges.

“We’re focusing on the things that we can control, and by doing that, we’ve been able to rise to the occasion,” she said. “Is it easy to do something like an Elliot’s Walk? No, it’s not, but we’re committed to making it happen.”

During his visit, Warnock spoke about his efforts to include a federal ban on private equity in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan legislative package designed to address the national affording housing shortage. The bill includes 43 provisions related to housing supply, financing, homelessness, housing for veterans and more.

President Donald Trump has refused to sign it into law as of publication, prompting criticism from Warnock during his visit. The bill will become law after July 10 without Trump’s signature as long as the president does not veto it and Congress is not fully adjourned.

The senator has discussed the need for affordable housing for seniors with local leaders in Columbus, and his staff has been working with NeighborWorks Columbus and the Housing Authority of Columbus to secure funds through the annual appropriations process, according to Warnock’s office.

Newman’s Crossing received $1.8 million in funding to support the construction of 56 new single-family homes off Farr Road. NeighborWorks acquired the 17.6 acres through donations almost eight years ago and rezoned the property for the project in 2024.

Warnock also secured $2.5 million in funding for a senior living housing development, Providence Pointe. This project will develop a 102-unit low-income senior apartment complex for individuals aged 55 or older.

The reason the age limit isn’t higher is so people who might be raising their grandchildren would be allowed to have children live with them, Hinton-Poole told Warnock during the visit.

“Most of the communities that are true senior age, like 62 or 65 and older, won’t allow for small kids,” Hinton-Poole said.

This is why it was good to spend time with Adams, Warnock said.

“Housing is dignity,” he said. “And that’s what I felt when I walked in that house with this woman: dignity. There was nothing extravagant about it, but it provided comfort for her and her three grandchildren that she’s raising.”

That is not an unusual story, Warnock said. For a wide range of reasons, a lot of grandparents are raising children, he said.

“Housing for children means a steady place to do your homework, to study,” Warnock said. “It means that there’s comfort, there’s safety.”

These types of projects are an example of centering people rather than politics, he said.

“It reminds me why I do that work,” Warnock said, “because you can get caught up in the sausage-making of Washington — which is why I need to be in Columbus because it’s not about politics. It’s about the people.”