BY CHARLIE LANTER, OFFICE OF HOUSING ADVOCACY & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER
The Office of Housing Advocacy & Community Development was born out of the recommendations in Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton’s Commission on Racial Justice & Equity, which was made a permanent commission earlier this year. The commission wanted to see Lexington improve access to housing programs, both those inside and out of city government, and to help people and organizations navigating those resources. In fiscal year 2021, several government divisions – Code Enforcement, Grants & Special Programs, Historic Preservation and Community & Resident Services – were combined under this newly created office led by a newly appointed commissioner to serve this goal. Also joining were the Offices of Affordable Housing and Homelessness Prevention & Intervention.
The response is timely, as Lexington, like most of the United States, faces an array of housing challenges. Pandemic and economic conditions have led to rising rents and reduced inventory for both homeowners and renters. To meet this challenge, our city is investing heavily in the creation and preservation of units through our Affordable Housing Fund. The mayor and council have invested $10 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act recovery funds along with $5 million of local funds over the current and previous fiscal years. As of this writing, there are 600 units under construction and several more projects in development. Since its inception in 2014, the Affordable Housing Fund has created or preserved nearly 3,000 units.
We’re also working to help people stay in their homes. This year, the Division of Code Enforcement began offering a Housing Assistance Program for homeowner-occupied properties facing citations for issues they can’t afford to fix. Instead of repeatedly citing a low-income homeowner for code violations, this program works with homeowners who are at or below 80% of the area’s median income to qualify them for assistance and help obtain contractors to make needed repairs.
For the most vulnerable, the city is investing millions of dollars in new initiatives to prevent homelessness or rapidly rehouse those already evicted or on the streets. Recently, the office has contracted with Community Action Council for a $4 million Transitional Housing Pilot Project that will use a combination of hotels and purchased properties to provide immediate and short-term housing for people in need. Wraparound services will help them get on their feet and move to more permanent housing over a three-to-six-month period. When the pilot project ends, all of the properties purchased will be maintained as units of affordable housing. A similar program funded at Mountain Comprehensive Care Center will allow families with pets to move into a unit transitionally but then remain permanently as the household has stabilized.
More information on the office and its programs is available at lexingtonky.gov/departments/housing-advocacy-community-development.