A Bigger Umbrella

Published: 9/28/2009 10:11:00 AM

With all the rain we’ve been having in Knoxville lately, it seems we all could use a bigger umbrella. The umbrella I’m talking about today, however, is with regard to public housing.

With all the rain we’ve been having in Knoxville lately, it seems we all could use a bigger umbrella. The umbrella I’m talking about today, however, is with regard to public housing.

You may have seen in the news recently that Knox County Commission voted to turn over its low- to moderate-income housing program to KCDC.

The acquisition makes great sense and will bring real benefit to Knox County residents.

Short-term, we’ll address some major capital improvements in existing projects. We’ll give the units a big facelift and make changes so that they’re more energy efficient.

Long-term, we plan to address the need for more units in Knox County. While that can’t happen right away, we hope to identify funding to provide new housing in the next five to ten years.

William “Bo” Pierce, executive director of the county’s housing authority, and I worked long and hard ironing out details of the acquisition and meeting with Commissioners so that they would understand the benefit it would bring to Knox County residents.

Now that the preliminary work and the approval process are complete, KCDC is ready to get to work for Knox County.

KCDC’s mission is to improve and transform neighborhoods and communities by providing quality affordable housing, advancing development initiatives and fostering self-sufficiency. For more information, call (865) 403-1100 or visit http://www.kcdc.org.