Housing Development Alliance, Inc.
Building Homes, Building Community
Since 1993
Over the holidays, homeowners everywhere look forward to peaceful nights spent at home with their families. This year, Dee Erwin is looking forward to it in a way she never has before. “I’ve had really big plans for my home, and now it’s all coming together!” she exclaims.
Before the Housing Development Alliance started repairing Dee’s home, she only had access to one entrance, and she feared the repairs her roof would need over the next few years. She heard that the Housing Development Alliance repaired homes for low prices with low interest, and upon making just one phone call, her plans started to realize.
Over the summer,
volunteers worked with our carpenters to paint the exterior, and to build a
porch and stoop to give her safe access to each entrance. Our carpenters also
installed a metal roof on her home with a twenty five year guarantee.
“My family and neighbors– and even people that just drive by– always comment on how good my house is looking these days! And those volunteers were so sweet! You just don’t hear about help like that anymore,” she stated. “In the future if I need anything done to my house, the Housing Development Alliance will definitely be the people to do it. I want everyone to know that.”
Most of all, Dee is excited about having her two daughters and grandchildren, including her newest grandchild, Ashton, over for Christmas. “I’m just so happy,” she said gratefully. "There was a time when I had almost nothing– and now look at me.” For the first time in many years, Dee can sit inside her home and happily hum along with the tune, "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
Our Homeowners Reflect Upon Years of Home Memories
Relaxing on a porch surrounded by home-grown tomatoes, Bonnie Crabtree reflected
upon her experiences as a homeowner. She joyfully recounted Christmas 2000,
when the Housing Development Alliance handed her the key to her new home. She
still remembers her excitement. “I love my home– I wouldn’t take anything for
it,” she gleams.
Inside her home, family pictures cover the walls. Bonnie emphasized the opportunities this home gives her to be with family. All of the room and comfort of the home allow her to have her granddaughter over occasionally, a fact she boasts with all the pride a grandmother should have. She also enjoys having her brothers over. “We’ll be here forever,” she affirms with security.
Paul Miller, called ‘Brown’ by most, emphasized the benefits homeownership has
given him and his family over the last eight years. “We’re much happier where
we are now,” Brown states.
Brown recalled the investments he’s made in his home since he bought it in 1998, including re-painting the walls each year and planting apple trees. He enjoys having more authority in what he can do with his space and being able to reap the benefits of his investments. “Paying rent is giving money away,” he says. “If I could do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Brown confirms.
As our homeowners look back upon years of homeownership, they look back upon years of opportunities taken, years of empowerment, and years of success. We are grateful to be a part of their ‘home memories’.
A Place to Come Home
Donna Robinson had been searching for a place to come home for years.
“Mom liked to move around,” she explains, matter of fact. “We moved so much when I was growing up, I knew I didn’t want that for my kids.”
Donna first contacted the Housing Development Alliance in 2001, and quickly realized that she had a lot of work to do before she could own her own home. She was working, raising her one-year-old daughter, and going to college at the same time. “It was too much,” she says.
After a few years passed, Donna began working with the housing counseling staff once more. She was now working at Hazard Perry County Community Ministries as a Family Transition Advisor and had been renting an apartment in town for a couple of years. “It was horrible,” she notes, “When I moved in, they told me the kids weren’t allowed to play on the grass, which left them playing on the sidewalk or inside.”
In February 2005, Donna was approved for homeownership through the Housing Development Alliance. But the first lot she selected had not been developed yet. So she went to see some land close to the Wendell Ford Regional Airport. Donna says, “I just loved it. This is where I want to be.” She wanted some space around her home, but she didn’t want to be too far away from town. Her new lot was perfect for her needs.
Construction began in August, and Donna had lined up her friends and family to help volunteer on the house. During Repair Affair, her team from HPCCM helped insulate and sheetrock the interior. Later, they installed laminate flooring throughout her home.
This past January, Donna and her family moved into their new home. Financed in part by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati’s Affordable Housing Program, her mortgage is held at First Federal Savings & Loan Association in Hazard. A secondary mortgage was financed by the Housing Development Alliance. Donna’s total monthly payment is an affordable $284 per month.
“I love that it’s mine,” Donna says. “My kids have a yard to play in... and a place to come home to.”
Guyla's Grace Provides Shelter
The Napier family is the first to live in the fully-accessible rental house named Guyla’s Grace, built by the Housing Development Alliance.
Harold and Linda Napier, along with their seven-year-old grandson, Tyler, moved into the barrier-free rental home in Lothair on December 1, 2005. Tyler has a mobility impairment, and the Napiers are delighted with the benefits of the new home.
The home was named “Guyla’s Grace,” to honor long-time Hazard resident and community volunteer Guyla Burhans. Guyla served on the Housing Development Alliance Board of Directors, where she made affordable rental housing one of her priorities. While she has moved back to her home of Modesto, California, Guyla returned for the ribbon cutting and open house event.
Funded primarily by Kentucky Housing Corporation, this new development is designed for a low-income family with accessibility needs. It features necessities for the Napier family, including step-less entries, a carport, an accessible kitchen, as well as a roll-in shower and tub equipped with a transfer seat.
Participants in YouthBuild Hazard, a youth and
community development program, built the house, with assistance from the Housing
Development Alliance and specialized subcontractors, to ensure the house meets
all applicable codes and quality standards. 
“There
is a real need in this community for this type of rental housing,” said R. Scott
McReynolds, Executive Director of the Housing Development Alliance.
The Napiers agree. While living in their old apartment, they had to carry Tyler in his wheelchair up and down a flight of steps to get in and out of their house. “It’s so accessible,” Linda says of Guyla’s Grace. “It’s in a great location,” her daughter adds.
Since 1993, the Housing Development Alliance has assisted low-income families in Hazard and Perry County obtain safe, decent, and affordable housing.
John Pittard
From Homelessness to
Homeownership
“It’s
my dream house,” declares new homeowner John Pittard. “It’s a quiet homestead,
an ideal place.”
In August, the Housing Development Alliance completed his new home on Highland Avenue in Hazard. John’s new home was the result of several years of hard work within the local Continuum of Care, a network of thirty-plus agencies working to eradicate homelessness, led by Hazard Perry County Community Ministries. After retiring from the Department of Highways, John struggled through alcoholism, medical problems, and homelessness. He entered Corner Haven, the homeless shelter managed by Community Ministries. While at Corner Haven, he began working with a case manager. From that point, he was able to get Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, a program designed to help individual households afford housing costs such as rent, utility costs, security or utility deposits.
In August 2002, John moved into an efficiency at High Street Housing, which was built and managed by the Housing Development Alliance. At the time, he said, “It’s quiet, which I like. I’ve also got some pretty good neighbors. I get along with them, and that’s important.” High Street Housing offers permanent rental units for formerly homeless individuals. John could have stayed at High Street for the rest of his life... but he had bigger plans.
He began working toward homeownership with the Housing Development Alliance housing counseling staff in 2004. After working through past credit issues and medical bills, John was approved for homeownership. He could focus on his new home. “It’ll be exciting, you know?” he mused last December. “I’ve worked hard all my life. I feel I deserve this, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Throughout the construction of his one-and-a-half story home, he worked with carpenters and volunteers alike, especially during the painting and finish carpentry work. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I got to see how other people communicate, how they work together. I learned a lot from all of them, and I hope they learned a lot from me.”
His house on Highland Avenue is in a great location, John says. "It's the coolest place. The breeze comes off from the mountain in the summer. I wouldn't trade my spot with anyone."
John now has an affordable mortgage with a $231 monthly payment, including taxes and insurance through USDA-Rural Development. Supplementary funds were drawn from Kentucky Housing Corporation’s HOME program. The Housing Assistance Council provided a grant to cover the cost of a down payment. As part of HAC's SHOP program, John volunteered over one hundred hours during the construction of his home.
On November 1, Dr. Arjun Sengupta, an envoy from the
United Nations and independent expert on poverty, had the opportunity to visit
with John in his home. Others participating in the conversation included
Executive Director R. Scott McReynolds, Board Chair Father Mike Chowning, Father
John Rausch of Stanton, Kentucky, and aides to Dr. Sengupta. John talked more
about his journey to homeownership. "You have to acknowledge that you have a
problem before you can move on. That's what I had to do, and that's what I
encourage others to do," he said.
After his journey from homelessness to homeownership, John is appreciative of those around him and of his new home. He still visits his friends from High Street, and invites people spend time with him at his new home. “This house is not just mine,” he states. “Together we can do things that we can’t do alone.”
Nancy Baker
The 50th New
Homeowner
Nancy
contacted the Housing Development Alliance in December 2003, shortly after her
husband died. After working with the housing counseling staff to qualify for
homeownership, she selected a lot on Baker Avenue in Hazard. At the time, she was
renting a place on Walnut Street, just one street over from her new home. “I
wanted to stay in town,” she explains. “I feel at home here.”
Because the land is so steep, the
design of Nancy’s home is unique to the Housing Development Alliance. It is a
one and one-half story house, with a foam block foundation. Funding for the home
was provided by Kentucky Housing Corporation - HOME Program, HUD's Rural Housing
& Economic Development program, and USDA - Rural Development.
Towards the end of construction, Nancy and her daughter Linda worked with the carpenters and volunteers on the house, painting, cleaning, and working in the yard. Many of the plants and the tree in the front yard were originally planted by Nancy’s husband. She has carefully transplanted them to honor his memory. “I wish Boyd could have been here for this,” she says, smiling wistfully.
Once she moves in, Nancy is looking forward to planting a new garden as well as more trees. “It’s so peaceful and quiet on here,” she notes. “I wanted something for my children, a place to call home. I just wish every family could have something like this of their own.”
Building Homes,
Building Community
Since 1993
HDA, Inc.
P.O. Box 7284
Hazard, KY 41702
606.436.0497