Housing Can’t Wait, so we didn’t.
Housing Can’t Wait is a grassroots initiative to address the need for immediate and permanent single-family housing solutions that will help families rebuild their Eastern Kentucky communities.
The Housing Can’t Wait coalition was created at the 2022 Fahe Annual Meeting when Scott McReynolds (Housing Development Alliance), Seth Long (HOMES, Inc.), Gerry Roll (Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky), Tom Manning-Beavin (Frontier Housing), and Jim King (Fahe) met to discuss how their organizations could immediately address the housing crisis created by the Eastern Kentucky flood.
With thousands of households displaced, these local leaders knew they couldn’t wait for federal and state responses to get people back into their homes. They set a plan to build 100 new homes to begin alleviating the need and to help demonstrate the capacity on the ground that can help with the rebuilding process if properly funded. Fahe and the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky committed the initial funds for HOMES, Inc. and HDA to begin work on building 16 new homes.
11 housing and community development experts lead the Housing Can’t Wait Initiative: Appalachia Service Project, Christian Appalachian Project, Housing Development Alliance, HOMES Inc, Kentucky Habitat for Humanity, Fahe, Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, Kentucky River Area Development District, Kentucky Housing Corporation, Partnership Housing, and USDA Rural Development.
