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City Highlights: 2025 Progress Report
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The City of Charlotte published a year-end roundup of major outcomes delivered in 2025 across safety, mobility, jobs, and affordable housing. Highlights include an 8% decline in overall crime and a 20% reduction in violent offenses, plus the launch of CMPD’s Operation Safe Season. Voters also approved a transit sales tax referendum projected to generate about $19.4B over 30 years. On housing, City Council approved $49M through the Housing Trust Fund to support 1,548 units across the continuum.
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Office of Youth Opportunities Launches, With New Website and Employer Recruitment Underway
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The City of Charlotte has launched the Office of Youth Opportunities (OYO) to better coordinate youth-focused work and connect young people to paid career experiences, youth development supports, and youth safety resources, with an emphasis on youth from low- and moderate-income households, Corridors of Opportunity, and those at risk of violence or justice system involvement.
OYO’s new website is a one-stop hub for programs and updates across its three pillars, including youth career experiences such as the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program (MYEP) and other career readiness opportunities.
OYO is now recruiting businesses to serve as host employers and provide paid work-based learning experiences for youth this summer. If your organization is interested, reach out to youth@charlottenc.gov to get started.
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EmpowerTech: For Community Leaders
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A free six-part workshop series from HNS and Smart Charlotte to build practical digital skills through short lessons plus hands-on lab time.
How it works: Each class is standalone. Register separately for each session. Registration opens at the start of the month for that session. Attend 4+ sessions to earn the EmpowerTech Excellence Award.
Upcoming sessions:
• Jan 27: Digital Basics (Hickory Grove Library)
• Feb 24: Introduction to AI
• Mar 24: Productivity Tools
• Apr 28: Tech Tools for Better Meetings
• May 26: File Management
• Jun 23: Streamlined Digital Communication
Locations for later sessions are still being finalized. The registration link shows one workshop at a time, the next appears after the previous one is complete. Bring a laptop if you can. Dinner provided.
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Windsor Park Neighbors Deliver Board Games to Windsor Park Elementary
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Windsor Park Neighbors completed the first finished project supported through the new Community Microgrant opportunity by providing a board game for every student at Windsor Park Elementary to take home over winter break. The goal was simple: promote hands-on learning through play and encourage screen-free time with families.
The group was awarded $5,000 in microgrant funding, and neighbors also contributed additional donations that helped the project go even further. In addition to giving one board game to each student, Windsor Park Neighbors donated a collection of gently used board games and LEGOs to the school’s library.
In their post-project close-out survey, Windsor Park Neighbors shared the impact: “This project increased community participation and volunteer engagement, strengthened the partnership between the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association and Windsor Park Elementary, and demonstrated the neighborhood’s ability to mobilize around a shared goal… and reinforced trust and collaboration with the school community.”
About the Community Microgrant
Community Microgrants support short-term, resident-led projects focused on connection, well-being, and neighborhood problem-solving, with low-barrier funding from $500 to $5,000 and no match required. Applications are accepted October 1 to March 1 (rolling) and should be submitted at least 8 weeks before the project start date.
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Neighborhood Matching Grants: Pre-Application Workshops (Register Now)
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Need funding for a resident-led neighborhood project? The City of Charlotte’s Neighborhood Matching Grants (NMG) Program helps eligible neighborhood-based organizations bring community-driven ideas to life through matching funds.
A pre-application workshop is required, and upcoming sessions include both Zoom and in-person options.
Pre-Application Workshops (registration required):
• Wed., Jan. 28, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (In person, Hickory Grove Library, 5935 Hickory Grove Rd)
• Thu., Jan. 29, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Zoom)
• Tue., Feb. 3, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (In person, Allegra Westbrooks Library, 2412 Beatties Ford Rd)
• Thu., Feb. 5, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Zoom)
• Thu., Feb. 12, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Zoom)
Registered participants will receive an NMG reference guide and access details ahead of time.
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Rebecca Hefner Featured on WFAE: Faith and Housing in Charlotte
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HNS Director Rebecca Hefner joined WFAE’s Charlotte Talks for a conversation on how faith-based organizations are helping expand affordable housing options in Charlotte. The episode highlights the city’s Faith in Housing Charlotte initiative, a partnership with Enterprise Community Partners that supports a cohort of 12 local faith groups working to transform underutilized land into affordable homes.
The inaugural cohort collectively has more than 88 acres of unused land across Mecklenburg County, and the initiative provides training, technical assistance, and connections to development resources, supported by $430,321 in city funding.
Listen to the full interview to hear how faith, land, and policy are intersecting to shape Charlotte’s housing future.
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City-Supported Housing Spotlight: Affordable Homes the City Helps Make Possible
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Affordable housing is already part of many Charlotte neighborhoods, but it is easy to miss. You can pass an income-restricted community every day without realizing it represents city investment at work. In this new series, we will highlight city-supported affordable housing by City Council district to help residents better understand what exists nearby and to show how these developments serve everyday neighbors who keep Charlotte running.
One of the city’s primary tools for supporting affordable housing is the Housing Trust Fund, which provides gap financing to help developments get built and preserved.
District 1 Spotlight: Middle Creek Lofts
Our first feature is Middle Creek Lofts (Council District 1), located at 4300 Penny Way, Charlotte, NC 28213, in the Hidden Valley area near Sugar Creek Road. Middle Creek Lofts is a 188-unit apartment community with income-restricted options and practical, family-friendly amenities, including a fitness center, conference and work spaces, and a playground.
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311 in the Community: CMS Endless Possibilities Fair
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CharMeck 311’s On the Go! Team partnered with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to participate in the 2025 Endless Possibilities Fair, held October 20 through November 1. Over two weeks, fifth and eighth-grade students explored career options and real-world pathways while visiting exhibits and earning points on their career passports. The On the Go! Team shared what it’s like to serve residents through the City of Charlotte and CharMeck 311, and staff, including colleagues from Office of Youth Opportunities, enjoyed connecting with students throughout the event.
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Code Enforcement Tip of the Month
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Read This Email in Your Language
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