Public housing directors have the chance to serve as a force for positive change within our communities

Hopefully, you have been following along in recent weeks with the ongoing special series dedicated to looking at issues related to homelessness and housing insecurity in our local area. We have spoken to a couple of faith leaders about ongoing efforts to assist those who are in need of basic necessities. We have also checked in with KCEOC Community Action Partnership to learn about some of the reasons behind why folks might find themselves experiencing housing insecurity. Most recently, we spoke to the director of the Emergency Christian Ministries homeless shelter in Williamsburg about how people can begin to climb their way out of desperation and back toward sustainability.

Working on this series has been eye-opening, and in many ways, I think that it is going to end up being a life-changing experience for me personally. I don’t say that to be dramatic. Truthfully, I have felt that a deep dive on this subject has been needed for a few years now, as the issue has clearly worsened over the past 5-10 years. It wasn’t until now, however, that I felt like I could take on the task. It’s been a lot of work, and there is more to be done, but my hope is that people will be able to use the information presented in our newspaper to help themselves or someone that they know navigate their way out of a tough spot. I guess if that ends up being true for just one person, then the effort will have been worth it.

There are a few more places that I want to visit before I have to wrap this series up in another month or so. I could probably go on writing articles on this subject forever, but before long I am going to have to switch my attention over to some other projects, such as our next Strictly Business Magazine, previewing the upcoming fall sports season, and helping to promote and cover our annual summer festivals, among other things. But before we get to all of that, I am excited to present another 3-4 articles in the housing insecurity series that explore the state of our local housing authorities, ask local landlords about the reasoning behind the current lack of affordable housing options, and take a look at how behavioral health, adult education and job placement services all play an important role when it comes to a person overcoming housing insecurity.

I recently spent a week on vacation in South Carolina. Just before leaving, and just after my return, I had conversations with our two housing authority directors in this area – Dr. Robert Hayes in Corbin and Mary Thornton in Williamsburg. Both conversations were very enlightening, and I appreciate both of them taking the time to be so open and forthcoming with me about the challenges that they face, as well as how they are navigating those challenges on a day-to-day basis.

One thing that I have learned about being a director of public housing is that it can serve as an incredible opportunity to touch the lives of the tenants who are occupying your housing units. It can also be a perfect opportunity to take advantage of vulnerable people, though, as we have unfortunately seen with Hayes’ and Thornton’s predecessors, both of whom received prison sentences for defrauding and stealing money from their respective housing authorities.

I am happy to say that I came away with a lot of positive feelings after both of my recent meetings with our housing authority directors, with both sharing a lot of plans for upgrades, expansions, partnerships and more.

I will get more into those details in the next installment of the ongoing housing insecurity series next week, but for now I just wanted to say that I hope both entities will continue to keep a positive outlook and continue adopting new strategies that will benefit tenants.

There are many different reasons for why someone might need to look into the option of public housing at any given time. With sustained occupancy rates at-or-near 100 percent in both Corbin and Williamsburg there is clearly enough need to warrant expansion (a decision that would have to be made at the federal level), and I sincerely hope that conversations will take place in the near future to explore options for how we can make that a reality. In the meantime, there has to be some other low-income housing options that can be looked into.

While each individual case will differ, I do think that, for many people, seeking out public housing represents a sort of crossroads situation where they will either manage to continue a trend of upward mobility, or slide back into a place where housing insecurity once again becomes a concern. Obviously, the goal here is to see as many folks as possible achieving the security of permanent housing. I think there are definitely things that we can do in order to maximize the chances of making that happen, but it will require a community effort.

Check out next week’s article for more, but also keep in mind that it all starts with putting the right people in the right positions. If you have folks who truly care about helping people overseeing certain operations each day, then your success rate is probably going to be much higher. On the other hand, if you have someone who is unethical and is out to take advantage whenever and wherever they can, then things will surely turn disastrous sooner rather than later.

Let me just say that there are a lot of different ways that housing authority directors and their staffs can help to enrich the lives of tenants beyond just providing them four walls and roof. I have seen and heard a lot recently about how that can be the case, and I look forward to sharing more on that soon.