City Council Remarks
“The people most affected by this crisis are often the ones who best understand what’s needed.“
CwD’s executive director shared this statement during the public comment period at the September 15th Winston-Salem City Council meeting. You can view the remarks and those of additional friends of CwD on the City’s YouTube channel.
Good evening Mayor Joines, Mayor ProTem Adams, and Council Members. My name is Ruth Cole Burcaw, and I serve as Executive Director of City with Dwellings, located at 502 N. Broad Street. We serve many of Winston-Salem’s unhoused citizens.
I know some of our West End neighbors are here tonight to raise concerns about crime and nuisance issues near our day center. We share the desire for safe, welcoming neighborhoods. Everyone deserves to feel safe where they live.
But homelessness itself is not the cause of these problems, and people experiencing homelessness are not the enemy. In fact, they are more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators. What we face is not a people problem — it is a housing problem.
City with Dwellings has been part of this neighborhood for more than a decade: first through our winter shelter at Augsburg Lutheran Church, then on Spring Street, and now at 6th and Broad. What has changed is visibility. Street homelessness is rising, and the crisis isn’t new — it’s simply harder to ignore.
Every day, our staff and volunteers help people stabilize, connect to services, and move toward housing. And we’re good at it. But the need is outpacing our capacity. We appreciate the City’s role in administering HUD Continuum of Care and ESG funds, which support part of this work. Still, those resources are limited. If we want real progress, we need stronger local investment.
What will truly make Winston-Salem safer is investing in solutions that work: housing, supportive services, and prevention that keeps people from becoming homeless in the first place.
Please see us as partners in building those solutions. The people most affected by this crisis are often the ones who best understand what’s needed. We are ready to work with the City, our neighbors, and other stakeholders to make it happen.
Thank you.
