New Living Facility Named for CASA Volunteer Nancye Bryan
by Jim Haskins
CASA is a Triangle-based non-profit which builds and renovates apartments to increase the availability of affordable housing in Durham, Orange and Wake Counties. Recently CASA has honored Nancye Bryan, a new CV resident, by naming their latest building project after her.
Bryan Place, set for completion in 2024, will be a three-story apartment building with 16 one-bedroom apartments to house people with annual incomes below 30% of the area median income. This permanent housing is conveniently located on North Duke Street, close to public transport, shopping and medical services.
As Nancye has noted, Bryan Place, like other CASA properties, will provide “decent, safe and affordable” residences for the people who live there. Major financial support from the City of Durham, the NC Housing Finance Agency, the Cannon Foundation and Pacific Western Bank has been key to bringing this project to fruition. And CASA is indeed grateful for the many private donations.
Nancye has been involved with housing for homeless people since the late 1990s. Initially she served on, and eventually chaired, the board of a small Durham non-profit, Next Step Housing, that built and managed a 12-unit building, the Shirley Strobel Apartments, at the corner of Liberty & Raynor Streets. In time, Next Step Housing was incorporated into CASA and Nancye was appointed to CASA’s board of directors, and served as its chair for 2 years.
CASA staff have nearly 30 years of experience of expanding the availability of affordable housing, maintaining homes, and facilitating supportive services for the special populations they serve.
Nancye and Sam Bryan are my roof-mate neighbors residing at 16 Aldersgate Court. Nancye, a Charlotte native and UNC Greensboro graduate, married Sam in 1968. Sam, from Scotland Neck, NC, finished a BS in Math at UNC Chapel Hill in ’63 and a MS in Computer Science in 1966 as a charter member of that program. Over the years, Sam worked as a systems analyst at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland and the EPA in Chapel Hill. Nancye was a stay-at-home mom and volunteer who delivered for Meals on Wheels and was very involved with Durham Congregations in Action. They are long-time active members of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Sons Needham and Sam Jr. live nearby.
