Norfolk resident Sabrina Whaff acutely feels the effects of the city’s affordable housing crisis.

Whaff, 55, works two jobs to be able to afford rent at her apartment off Lafayette Boulevard. Whaff said her neighborhood has issues with drugs and gun violence. She’s also dealing with flooding issues that bring stormwater to her front door.

“I can’t even get to my car without a pair of boots because it’s flooded,” Whaff said.

Whaff has looked at other apartments, but she either can’t afford rent or makes too much to qualify for affordable or public housing.

Her situation is not unique in Norfolk, where the demand for affordable housing units vastly outpaces supply. The city is short around 6,800 rental units for workers making less than $35,000 a year — around 3 out of 10 households — and down another 4,600 for those making less than $20,000 a year, according to a 2024 city-commissioned housing study.

The city plans to create a funding program later this year that housing advocates and developers say will help close this gap. Called a housing trust fund, city leaders say the program will act as a flexible funding source to help pay for developments, invest in housing initiatives and other uses, said city spokesperson Kelly Straub in an emailed statement.

“Over the next several months, our department will be developing options for the design of the housing trust fund, including administration, sources of funding, potential uses and the associated financial policy changes necessary to support the fund,” Straub said.

The city does not yet have a recommended funding amount for the trust fund, Straub said. Richmond, a similarly sized city, proposed spending about $3.2 million on its Affordable Housing Trust Fund in its 2025 budget. Other localities have spent more: Henrico County turned an economic windfall from data centers into a new $60 million housing trust fund in May.

Housing advocates from Virginia Organizing tentatively celebrated the Norfolk decision at a May 25 rally. However, most speakers shared a similar message about the trust fund.

“Without money, that trust fund will accomplish nothing,” said Grey Persons, an event speaker with Hope House Foundation. Persons encouraged Norfolk City Council to quickly create the fund to attract private developers.

Several Norfolk developers agreed, and said the trust fund could help offset rising costs of construction, operations and other aspects of the development process. In recent years, the cost of everything from construction materials to interest rates and taxes have increased, said Austin Pittman, director of development at Lawson Cos., an affordable housing developer.

“It leads to a financing gap,” Pittman said. “So, the cost of building, the cost of developing is more than the financing that we can bring in.”

A housing trust fund could effectively close the gap on financing some of the project, Pittman said. Low or no-interest financing would allow for new development, and the deals usually come with provisions that make sure rents stay affordable, he said.

Jake Marshall, vice president of acquisitions and development for The Breeden Co., said in an emailed statement that long-term real estate tax abatement and grant programs also help spur development. He also voiced support for low or no-interest loans.

Grayson Orsini, a lead with YIMBY Hampton Roads, said the housing issues are fundamentally a supply-and-demand problem. Orsini, whose pro-housing development group is an acronym for Yes In My Back Yard, said rents go up because there are not enough units to meet the demand for housing.

Orsini said there are other ways beyond the trust fund to address housing needs, particularly Norfolk’s lack of available land. Those include making it easier to convert underused and abandoned churches into housing, letting homeowners sublet spaces through a process called accessory dwelling units and allowing building homes on smaller lots, Orsini said.

Whatever the housing fund is used for, Whaff hopes the result is affordable communities that create pride among their residents.

“Just somewhere decent,” she said.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com