Stories - Housing Can't Wait

Impact Stories

Everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to call home. The stories of the people we serve prove what’s possible when communities come together to create opportunity. From first-time homebuyers overcoming financial barriers to seniors gaining the security to age in place, these real-life experiences highlight the transformational power of housing. Each impact story is a testament to resilience. To hope. Click below to explore how lives are being changed every day.

A smiling older woman and a man stand outside a house holding a weather alert radio box. The woman wears a beach-themed shirt, and the man wears a "Creative Passion, Inc." T-shirt.

Windows to the Future

Gloria Wright owns a 50-year-old three-bedroom cement block home that she maintains the best she can on a fixed social security income. But major improvements are beyond her means – like new energy efficient windows to replace the original single pane aluminum frame ones.

A man in a tan jacket and glasses stands smiling in front of a construction site on a sunny day, with mountains and newly built homes in the background.

New Foundations

Bill Sizemore’s 100-year-old house filled with 18 feet of water in the July 2022 Eastern Kentucky floods. The foundation completely washed away and the structure was demolished just days later. Finding a rental took months. Bill wrestled with his next steps, not knowing what he would be able to afford. HOMES, Inc., made owning a new home possible.

A woman stands in a brightly lit kitchen with three children, all smiling warmly for the photo. Their close embrace and relaxed expressions reflect a sense of family, love, and togetherness in their home.

Investing in the Future

Elda Bowen was paying $1600 a month in rent out of her modest social security and retirement income. Purchasing a home significantly reduced her monthly payment. The move to Bath County also brought her and the three great grandchildren in her custody closer to relatives and the chance for a fresh start.

Room for Family

When Brooke Shannon and her husband moved to Gatlinburg to open an artist shop, they first lived in a small attached apartment in the bustling downtown without a full kitchen. Soon after starting their search to buy a house, they had a firm deadline they wanted to meet: Brooke was pregnant and they were determined to welcome their son into a new home.

A man with a long white beard and a black cap smiles softly while standing inside a house under construction. Wooden framing surrounds him, and natural light filters through the unfinished walls.

Rising Above

Farmer Baker has felt lost since the devastating 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky. That July night, a wall of water swept through his holler in Lower River Caney, tragically killing his wife and washing away their home. For two years after, he has lived nearby with his oldest son.

A Room of His Own

Kalynn Kirchoff had some major bumps in the road on her journey to home ownership. In 2020, she was diagnosed with melanoma cancer. In 2022, the apartment she and her son, Calan, lived in flooded.

Finding a Way

Denise Franklin lived more than 30 years in subsidized housing and then, in her parents’ home with her daughter. Now she works as a nurse and owns her own home thanks to Beyond Housing, the redevelopment and housing authority of Bristol, Virginia.

Three people, wearing work gloves and casual clothing, are lifting a wheelbarrow full of debris into a large blue dumpster. Dust rises from the contents of the wheelbarrow as they work together to unload it. The backdrop shows a red brick building with boarded-up windows.

UNIQUE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM PROVIDES AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY-BASED REVITALIZATION TO SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA

Fahe Member Coalfield Development opened their doors in 2010 with the goal of building resilient rural communities in southern West Virginia with thriving social and financial economies.

A healthcare provider in blue scrubs smiles while using a stethoscope to listen to a patient's heartbeat. The patient, seated and also smiling, appears relaxed in a clean and modern medical exam room.

Dayspring Health Turns Vacated Superstore into Whitley County’s One-Stop Shop for Healthcare

With support from Fahe CDFI via the Uplift America Fund and New Markets Tax Credit Program, Dayspring Health transformed an abandoned building that once housed Walmart into a state-of-the-art healthcare facility, and established a comprehensive source for healthcare in Whitley County, Kentucky.

This image shows an older couple standing proudly in front of their home, smiling and arm-in-arm. They’re posed on the front porch, framed by white railings and a clean, well-maintained house exterior. Their expressions radiate warmth, stability, and a sense of belonging—capturing a moment of pride and comfort in their place of residence.

From Rescue to Respite

There was no time to think. The walls buckled, and the trailer split like kindling, water rushing through the gaps. It swallowed their furniture, their photographs, the life they’d built together. Clinging to each other, George and Sherry tried to stay upright in the torrent, their feet scraping for anything solid beneath the rising current.