Erin Karpewicz on Housing and Community Development For All

Housing is where everything else starts and when it gets too expensive, communities can start to break. In the latest episode of the Pittman and Friends podcast County Executive Steuart Pittman sits down with Erin Karpewicz, Executive Director of Arundel Community Development Services (ACDS), to get specific about how affordable housing and community development actually happen: who pays, how deals get structured, and why the market alone won’t build homes for every income level.We talk through the full housing continuum, from homelessness prevention and Continuum of Care partners to the financing tools that make new affordable rental housing pencil out. We dig into the Housing Trust Fund, created with a dedicated revenue source, and why predictable local funding unlocks more projects. Erin explains how low-interest loans reduce private debt, how deed restrictions keep units affordable long term, what affordability targets like 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) mean for real working households, and how many units of affordable housing are currently in the pipeline.The story is not just numbers. We revisit community-centered projects like the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center and the Severn Center, where years of advocacy turned into a thriving building because residents helped design it and saw themselves reflected in it. Then we look ahead to Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park and the Meyer Building, and discuss the plan to include affordable rentals and permanent supportive housing in the project design. If you care about housing affordability, first-time homebuyer support, permanent supportive housing, or building economically diverse communities, listen and share this conversation with someone who still thinks the problem is simple. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what creative solution to the affordable housing crisis you want to see next.If you like the stories and insights in Pittman and Friends, be sure to follow the County Executive on social media and sign up for his Weekly Letter using the links below. Weekly Letter: https://www.aacounty.org/county-executive/steuart-pittman/pittmans-pen/weekly-letterFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AACoExecX (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/AACoExecInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/AACoExec/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArundelTV