By Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration Kevin Connor spent a few months living in the Bridge Homeless Shelter transitional housing when he first moved to Cortez, Colorado, after getting out of La Plata County Jail. The Bridge has 12 transitional housing units with most residents paying under $200 a month for housing. After leaving the Bridge, Connor lived in a hotel for a bit but was paying more than $400 a week and found it unsustainable. After that, he lived in a storage room at one of his workplaces for four months. Connor couldn’t afford a rental in Cortez even while holding multiple jobs. .
The Kentucky Housing Corporation has received applications for housing funding from the state s Rural Housing Trust Fund requesting more than $18 million for rebuilding single family homes in regions of the state still recovering from catastrophic flooding and tornadoes. Wendy Smith, deputy executive director of the Kentucky Housing Corporation, explained very few affected homeowners carry flood insurance, and homeowners policies typically do not cover flooding. She said money from the trust fund will be critical for helping middle and moderate income Kentuckians rebuild their houses. .
Advocates for affordable housing in Virginia are holding a forum today for Richmond region candidates to speak with local residents about the state s housing crisis. Across Virginia, the median rent has increased 24%. Earlier this year, the City of Richmond declared a housing crisis based on low housing inventory. .
A new affordable housing development is coming to Lake Placid, an area facing a workforce housing crisis. Fawn Valley, with six homes and 16 town homes, comes at a time when much of the area s regular housing stock has become short-term rentals. It may benefit vacationers, but workers cannot find affordable housing nearby. .
Groups challenging the criminal consequences for failing to pay rent in Arkansas say they ll take another run at it, perhaps as a class-action lawsuit, after their initial case was dismissed. Arkansas is the only state that treats nonpayment of rent as a criminal offense instead of a civil debt, and a nonprofit that provides free legal services contends that is unconstitutional. Phil Telfeyan, who heads the group Equal Justice Under Law, said the goal of the suit was to end the law - and now, more work must be done. .