Fauquier Times 03/13/2024

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SPORTS: Donnie Downs is Fauquier’s new football coach; Liberty, Fauquier softball previews. PAGES 15, 16, 19 March 13, 2024

Our 207th year | Vol. 207, No. 11 | www.Fauquier.com | $2.00 VIRGINIA PRESS ASSOCIATION: BEST SMALL NEWSPAPER IN VIRGINIA 2017-2022

‘Affordable housing’ is still too costly for many Advocates say local market rate apartments are out of reach for low-income residents Hunter Savery

Fauquier Times Staff Writer

Affordable housing is in woefully short supply in Fauquier County, and housing advocates are raising the alarm that even so-called “low-income housing” is unaffordable for many working people. Low-income renters face two major hurdles in Fauquier County: a limited supply of housing and housing that is supposed to be affordable but is still too expensive based on their income.

Not so affordable

money selling online horse games she created and, by age 14, she was paying her own way and competing at local horse shows. One thing Krafsig, who is Black, noticed: very few other competitors looked like her. That’s still true.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development places the fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Warrenton at about $1,400 per month. Under HUD’s definition, affordable housing should never cost more than 30% of a renter’s income, but the fair market rate can easily exceed that for the county’s lowest-income residents, advocates say. “What we’re seeing a lot more now is people who have worked all their lives are now on a fixed income, getting social security, but it’s not enough to cover rent costs, especially in Fauquier County,” said Darlene Green, a case manager with Bealeton-based nonprofit Community Touch, which helps secure housing and other necessities for people in need. Donna Lane, 60, is one of those people. In 2017, Lane was working two jobs, one at an Amazon warehouse in Gainesville and one at Walmart. The long hours took a toll on her health. When Lane fell ill and took time away from her job at Amazon, it was a major blow to her finances. “Even when you’re working, it’s just not enough,” Lane said. Just when Lane was most vulnerable, a new landlord raised her rent by $300 per month, too much for her to afford. Lane briefly ended up homeless before Community Touch helped to place her in transitional housing.

See KRAFSIG, page 4

See HOUSING, page 2

Changing the face of horse sports PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD

Riding instructor Jade Krafsig works with student Ava Berczek, of Warrenton, at White Oak Stables.

Local instructor’s mission is to open equestrian sports to diverse riders By Beth Rasin

Special to the Fauquier Times

When Jade Krafsig was growing up in Fairfax, she desperately wanted to take riding lessons but, from the start, it wasn’t easy for her family. “(My mother) always told me, ‘I won’t pay more than I

make an hour for you to sit on a horse for an hour.’ She was a single mom, and it was really difficult for her to do lessons,” said Krafsig, 37, who took her early riding lessons in Bealeton. “It always stuck with me how difficult it was for people to take riding lessons.” A computer whiz, she made

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