BURNSVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Construction is beginning on an affordable housing community in Burnsville designed to serve residents with special needs and those facing housing insecurity.

A groundbreaking ceremony for Sawmill Village will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, on the corner of U.S. 19E and Sawmill Hollow Road, hosted by the Northwestern Regional Housing Authority.

The development will include 26 affordable apartments, with six units reserved for people with disabilities, according to project officials.

Scheduled speakers include State Rep. Dudley Greene, Robin Ramsey from Sen. Thom Tillis’s office and representatives from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, SECU Foundation and Dogwood Health Trust.

Sawmill Village is being developed by Northwestern Housing Enterprises, Inc. and financed in part through the State Housing Trust Fund, administered by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.

“Safe and affordable housing is vital to the special needs population in North Carolina and is critically important in our western communities following Hurricane Helene,” Scott Farmer, executive director of the NC Housing Finance Agency, said in a news release. “Sawmill Village is a prime example of how we can provide supportive housing to those who need it most.”

The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, a self-supporting public agency, has financed more than 321,000 affordable homes and apartments since its creation by the General Assembly, totaling $34.4 billion in housing investments statewide.

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