As everyone knows, there’s a tremendous problem finding affordable housing in Guilford County – especially in Greensboro and High Point.

This week, High Point University did something about it: The school donated $500,000 to the High Point Community Foundation to help advance a program meant to provide quality, affordable housing for families in High Point.

High Point University President Nido Qubein announced the gift on Thursday, Feb. 6, prior to sitting down for a conversation with former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson in front of an audience inside the university’s Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.

Community Foundation President Paul Lessard and Foundation Chair Barry Safrit came up on the stage to accept the donation in the form of a poster-sized check from Qubein.

According to a statement from the school, “High Point University’s gift will support a Housing Impact Fund that the High Point Community Foundation, in partnership with Self-Help Ventures Fund, has launched with the goal of providing low-interest loans to developers to build affordable, multi-family rental housing. The initiative aims to build more than 1,000 housing units for people who earn 30 to 80 percent of the area median income.”

 Lessard was of course very pleased.  He said that Qubein and the university have always stepped up and supported the Foundation and the community of greater High Point any time a need arises.

 “This Housing Impact Fund is an ambitious project that absolutely will change the quality of life for so many folks in High Point,” Lessard said. “We are grateful for the support and honored to call High Point University our teammate and faithful benefactor to our community.”

High Point University has been helping a lot of people with a lot of big checks in recent years and, in fact, this is the third six-figure donation that the school has given out in the first few weeks of 2025.

The school’s recent donations have gone to help support essential workers, minority business owners, and Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina. The university has presented gifts totaling nearly a million dollars so far this year and a total of $50 million over the last decade.

“We believe in the future and prosperity of the city of High Point, and we understand that teachers, healthcare providers and other essential workers are critical to our community thriving and continuing to be a great place to raise a family,” Qubein said. “This donation will help essential workers and their families have access to affordable housing and ensure they can live in the city where they work.”

Last month, Qubein announced on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that the school was donating $250,000 to Business High Point to support local minority entrepreneurs and to develop the Washington Street Historic District in High Point.

A couple of weeks before that, Qubein presented a $100,000 donation to Rev. Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, during Graham’s visit to campus. That donation will help Samaritan’s Purse provide additional support to people who’ve been impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and those who have lost everything due to the wildfires that raged near Los Angeles.

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