Rural Western Ky. already needed more affordable housing. Then the tornadoes hit.

The tornadoes that ravaged Kentucky in December hit rural communities particularly hard, killed at least 80 Kentuckians, and have left hundreds more without a stable home. As I watched the devastation unfold on a Friday night in December, one question ran through my mind: where are people going to live?

The governor and legislature quickly stepped in to help with short-term shelter options, including the deployment of state parks as non-congregate shelters, as well as the swift passage of House Bill 5 which included $15 million for RVs for intermediate housing needs. We know from our staff in the Purchase area and local housing authority administrators that there were significant housing losses, especially in Graves County.

Housing availability west of I-65 had already hit a crisis point well before the pandemic and before storms physically destroyed thousands of homes. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, we were short 77,701 affordable and available rental homes for extremely low-income Kentuckians in 2019; the counties that make up the Congressional Districts 1 and 2 were short 27,000 homes. The average wage renters earn in Kentucky is $14.25 per hour, while the hourly wage required to pay for a 2 bedroom rental home is $15.78; in Graves County, the average wage for the 1 in 4 folks who rent is closer to $9.63. Kentucky renters who are not fortunate enough have a Housing Choice Voucher start off at a deficit from the beginning. We know that 1 in 4 Kentuckians are paying more than 30% of their income toward housing, including those who have a mortgage according to the Housing Assistance Council’s Rural Data Portal, and 6 out of 10 extremely low income renters are paying more than 50%.

While the federal and state governments have acted in the short term, the housing need outweighs the short-term resources. According to reporting from Ohio Valley ReSource, “[m]ore than two months after the disaster, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not started moving displaced people into temporary housing like camping trailers or manufactured homes. According to a statement, the agency is still moving through the “long process” to lease existing homes in the region. State officials are trying to provide approximately 200 travel trailers to displaced Kentuckians, but have only given them out to 18 families as of Feb. 9.” The government can address both the post-disaster needs of Kentuckians and the longstanding housing crisis in three simple ways.

First, Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul must prioritize passing the housing provisions included in the Build Back Better Act. The provisions include $25B to bridge the gap between low renter wages and high monthly rents through vouchers for 24,000 Kentuckians. The housing provisions would increase Kentucky’s National Housing Trust Fund allocation from $6.7 million to $376 million, and restore $65B nationally to aging public housing - including the housing authorities in Western Kentucky.

Secondly, with half of the State Fiscal Relief Funds yet to be appropriated by the legislature, the time is ripe for a one-time $40M investment in the Kentucky Affordable Housing Trust Fund to create and preserve permanent affordable homes for low-income Kentuckians. Infrastructure to accommodate this flexible funding is already in place and ready to move forward quickly with construction of new homes, rental projects, as well as repair of existing homes. The $40M addresses the amount in funding requests Kentucky Housing Corporation is unable to fund each year among high-capacity communities and allows for new partners to be funded in areas of the state that have been historically underserved, especially in Western and South Central Kentucky. Housing development is an eligible use of the funds, and other states have already allocated federal relief funding for similar purposes, including Florida. Lastly, the General Assembly can prioritize HB 86, filed by Representatives Randy Bridges and Kim Banta. Kentucky can join 20 other states in establishing a workforce housing tax credit to match the federal program and almost double the number of rental homes built per year.

Our communities in Western and South Central Kentucky deserve and need true investment from our federal and state legislators, and the foundation for rebuilding, as always, is home.

Adrienne Bush is the executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky.