We all know that affordable housing is no laughing matter. According to current data, more than 55,000 Charlotteans do not have an affordable place to live. To remedy this unfortunate reality, the city would need an additional 24,000 units of affordable housing. This is a daunting fact that can overwhelm the best of us. So how do we talk about this and motivate our members to learn how they can make an impact? Enter the Queen City Quiz Show!
On October 15, the Signature Events Sub-Committee partnered with Charlotte is Creative to present a special Queen City Quiz Show (QCQS), with a focus on affordable housing. Queen City Quiz Show is the brainchild of Charlotte is Creative co-founders, Matt Olin and Tim Miner. Created in 2016 after winning a Knight Foundation Knight Cities Challenge grant, QCQS overlays community engagement, a competition, and entertainment onto traditional civic discussion in order to create more interaction between information and the audience.
More than 100 Women’s Impact Fund members came out to watch Anne Essaye, Liana Humphrey, and Ann Marie Williams (“The Homers”) take on Alane Paraison, Sidney Logan Evecharria, and Amanda Pagliarini Howard (“The Winners”) as they explored our knowledge of Charlotte via fun facts, history, and data directly related to affordable housing.
Joining the teams near the stage were our invited content experts Dr. Willie Griffin, Historian at the Levine Museum of the New South; Beth Morrison, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together; ARTivist Rosalia Torres-Weiner; and Allison Winston, Director of Street Outreach at Urban Ministry. This group served as lifelines during the game, consulting with teams for the correct answers. Our audience also played a big part as both teams took advantage of WIF’s extensive collective knowledge via “Poll the Audience.”
At the end of the evening, “The Winners” emerged victoriously. They not only won the game but secured two Charlotte is Creative $250 HUG micro-grants for Queen College’s Stan Greenspon Center for Peace and Social Justice and the Arts Empowerment Project. “The Homers” won one HUG grant for Project Outpour. We thank Matt and Tim for helping WIF support our mission of philanthropy and action in this way.
Social Hour for Social Issues was one way to explore the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte. The Education Committee’s upcoming Lunch & Learn on November 6 will also center around this social challenge.
You can learn more about affordable housing in our community through the information below.
