KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — The State Employees' Credit Union Foundation has broken ground on the second project where the Foundation is helping a poorer North Carolina county stabilize its supply of affordable housing for teachers.

Several economically disadvantaged North Carolina counties have suffered from high teacher turn over in recent years because prospective teachers could not find affordable housing in the communities where their schools were located. The foundation stepped up to help in Hertford County by financing the development of a housing project that the school district can offer to teachers at an affordable rent. The housing project is located close the teachers' school and the rental income is used to repay the construction loan. The foundation is doing something similar in Dare County, a county which is entirely on North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The Outer Banks is an extremely popular site with vacationers and tourists but with very high costs of living and housing for year long residents, including teachers. The foundation is providing the county with a $2.25 million 0% interest loan to develop a new 24 unit complex which is scheduled to be open and available for teaches to rent on Aug. 1 of this year. Officials from the county, schools and the Foundation broke ground on the project on March 21.