McKinney Gifts Longtime Residents New Houses Amid Affordable Housing Crisis

This week, the city of McKinney gifted three longtime residents with new houses, part of an effort to combat a rising cost of living that threatens to force some from their homes.

Among them is Zeta White, who said that after 20 years at her McKinney address, her house had fallen into disrepair.

“I saw a lot of days in here, and I did the best I could with it,” said White.

Eventually, White said an infestation of snakes and rats sent her fleeing to a homeless shelter and turning to city officials.

“It’s very hard for old people to say that you need help,” she said.

When they learned of her story, McKinney moved White to the top of their waiting list for a rehab program, which Affordable Housing Administrator Cristel Todd said addresses everything from small repairs, or like in White’s case, reconstruction.

“This will allow our elderly to age in place. Some of these homes are too far gone, so we can’t just rehab them and we want to keep as much affordable housing as possible,” said Todd.

Zeta is just one of three McKinney residents the city is welcoming home in time for Christmas as it makes its way through a COVID-related backlog and tries to keep up with a dwindling supply of affordable housing.

It’s a new record for the program now battling rising construction costs.

In its 20-year run, Todd said the city has helped 100 families and will continue to do what it can for long-time residents like White.

“Now that I’m home, it’s unbelievable. It’s unspeakable joy. You can’t say what it really means,” said White.

As McKinney continues to grow the program, it’s working on developing a land trust that will help even more homeowners age right here in the place they’ve always called home.

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