Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award winner, Charis Blackmon, leads West Side Community Land Trust

Charis Blackmon, executive director of the West Side Community Land Trust

Charis Blackmon was a child growing up in East Charlotte when she first knew she wanted to make a difference: “I knew I wanted to love people, care for them, advocate for them.”

Now, at age 35, there is something else she has learned about herself: “I’m never afraid of a fight.”

As executive director of the West Side Community Land Trust, she is fulfilling her childhood dreams. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide affordable housing on Charlotte’s west side by purchasing land on which houses can be renovated, built or moved to. “Our goal, our mission,” Blackmon said, “is to disrupt the status quo when it comes to affordable housing. This is your basic human right – shelter.”

For her fierce spirit and effective leadership of this innovative nonprofit, Blackmon was the 2023 recipient of the Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award. The award is named for the distinguished political science professor at UNC Charlotte who established a charitable fund at Foundation For The Carolinas to annually honor someone who betters the human condition. Before his passing in 2021 at age 89, Dr. Jamgotch thought deeply about his legacy, asking himself, “Have I done enough?”

Winners of the Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award that bears his name can say they’ve done a lot while acknowledging there is still more to do.

That includes Charis.

‘Charis Is Doing Fantastic Work’

Charis grew up off Idlewild Road in East Charlotte, the youngest of three children. She graduated from Northwest School of the Arts (she made theater costumes at the arts-oriented school) and earned three degrees from UNC Charlotte.

She tried teaching but felt the call to help students overcome life’s struggles beyond the classroom. After a stint leading the nonprofit Center for Community Transitions, which works with people with criminal records and their families, she arrived as the Land Trust’s first executive director in 2018. She was part-time. As her dynamism sparked momentum, she went full-bore and full-time, working to provide affordable housing to low-income residents in West Charlotte.

Federico Rios, the Foundation’s Senior Vice President of Robinson Center for Civic Leadership, is all in.

Federico Rios, the Foundation’s Senior Vice President of Robinson Center for Civic Leadership (Middle) with The Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award winners (left and right).

“Charis is doing fantastic work to address gap needs in terms of housing in Charlotte,” Rios said, stressing that those desperate to find affordable housing includes people who make our city go – teachers, firefighters, police officers and the like.

Rios said Charis is worthy of the Nish Jamgotch Jr. Humanitarian Award, an honor that recognizes those who seek to better the human condition. She combines expertise with a humility that allows her to connect with developers, homeowners and political and business leaders. All are crucial to expanding affordable housing. She exudes warmth even as she’s throwing numbers at you, Rios said.

He recalled Charis sitting on a panel that was discussing affordable housing with visitors from Jacksonville, FL. “She was a star,” Rios said. “She shone bright. People were lining up to ask her questions.”

Community organizer and author Greg Jarrell goes back to the start of the Trust. The organization was founded in 2016 after meetings in his family’s home in the Enderly Park community in West Charlotte. Greg Jarrell and his wife, Helms, are among those who created QC Family Tree, a grassroots nonprofit focusing on affordable housing and social justice. Greg Jarrell said Charis brings a blend of guts, will, vision and smarts to the mission. “She is not scared of tackling big and challenging projects,” he said. “She is able to see ways to connect people and resources.”

‘I Want To Make Her Proud’

Charis’ inspiration comes from a deeply personal place.

Her mother, Vanessel Blackmon, was her best friend. They spoke every day, sometimes more than once a day. Her mom died unexpectedly from illness on Feb. 5, 2018. She was just 64 years old.

As Charis learned to live with her grief (her family at Calvary Christian Church of the Apostolic Faith on Kilborne Drive is a continuing comfort), she holds tight to something her mother told her: When I leave this earth, don’t get stuck in grief. Harness your pain to make a difference.

As Charis works to extend the basic right of shelter in West Charlotte, she believes that a great cloud of witnesses is watching from above.

“In that spirit realm, my mother still helps me,” she said. “I want to make her proud.”

About The West Side Community Land Trust

The West Side Community Land Trust is one of 300 land trusts across the nation. Simply put, the Trust acquires, owns and stewards land permanently on Charlotte’s west side. This includes the Beatties Ford area around Johnson C. Smith University.

The West Side Community Land Trust mission is to provide permanently affordable housing with community-centered development in West Charlotte and beyond.

The Trust sells the home on that land to a low-income buyer who qualifies for a mortgage. The Trust also can move homes onto land it has purchased. All this expands the affordable housing pool and protects the homeowner from being displaced by developers and the resulting gentrification (higher-priced homes built in lower-income areas). When a homeowner decides to relocate, he or she agrees to sell their home to another qualified low-income family.

To date, the Trust has produced 161 permanently affordable, high-quality housing units. Among them: The Trust purchased land upon which was built The Legacy at Carr Heights on West Boulevard, apartment homes for seniors ages 55 and over.

Charlotte has a shortage of 26,000 affordable housing units. The Trust can’t solve the crisis by itself. But it is a piece of the puzzle that includes the city’s Housing Trust Fund and Habitat for Humanity. Foundation For The Carolinas also committed to the cause through its Charlotte Housing Opportunity Fund.

“It’s about creating housing justice,” Charis said. “It’s heart work. It’s also hard work.”