Outgoing director of Winston-Salem’s housing authority reflects on tenure

The Housing Authority of Winston-Salem is undergoing significant changes.

This month, it officially rebranded as "Aspire." And, the organization moved its headquarters from downtown to Cleveland Avenue. Amid all this, Executive Director Kevin Cheshire announced plans to step down after five years in the position.

WFDD's DJ Simmons recently spoke with Cheshire about his decision to leave the role, and his views on the agency's next steps.

Interview highlights

On the timing of his decision:

"It seemed a good time with Choice Neighborhood Phase One being complete and Happy Hill Phase One being complete, the move to the new building, the rebranding...It seemed probably very likely that we were not going to have as clean of an opportunity in the next three or four years for me to make this transition."

On whether he responded to calls for his resignation:

"No, that's the short answer. I let my board and the mayor know a year and a half ago that I was trying to transition. And so we've been working on this for a long time. I think, in a job like this, the mayor, the city manager, the school superintendent, the sheriff, whomever — you're gonna have calls for your job if you're in a role like that long enough."

On the housing authority's rebrand:

"Unfortunately, public housing and housing authorities nationally are stigmatized, and that means that the organizations are stigmatized. It means the people who work in those organizations are stigmatized, and most importantly, it means the people that are seeking to benefit from the services offered by those organizations are stigmatized."