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Stephanie Skeens
Oldham County is an amazing place to live.
We moved here 14 years ago and have found home. My daughters have spent their entire lives in Oldham County schools. My husband started his business. We bought our home in LaGrange, and our church family is here too. I have a difficult time thinking about living anywhere else. I know others feel the same way and want to continue to call Oldham County home, but the costs of doing so are becoming increasingly challenging.
I am the executive director of Good News Homes. We have provided transitional housing and support to families in crisis in Oldham County since 1998. We receive more than 380 requests each year, seeking housing due to eviction, separation, domestic violence, job loss or because of unfortunate choices.
Eighty percent of our program families are single-mother-led, with one income. The goal of our program is to help families transition from the crisis to stable and permanent housing, in the community they desire.
Finding rentals in Oldham County that are affordable, especially for a working, single mother, has become increasingly difficult in the past two years. Fourteen years ago, we rented a two-bedroom, two-bath, 900-square-foot apartment for $620 a month. Today, that same apartment, with no amenities added, now rents for more than $1100.
In 2016, we rented a 1000-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bath home in LaGrange for $900. Properties like it are now renting for more than $1400. New apartments are being built with rental prices more than most families can afford, and some pay more than half their income to rent, leaving little for other expenses. There are subsidized rental units in Oldham County, but the waiting lists are long. Section 8 is on hold indefinitely, and finding a landlord who will accept it is difficult, although many of our working, single mothers could benefit from the housing vouchers and are excellent tenants.
What is the solution? I don’t know. I do know one thing ... hold on to your rental housing for dear life in this community. Stable housing is a basic need. An unstable, nighttime residence affects all areas of life — education, employment and relationships. If you do have stable housing right now, make sure you are a good tenant, pay your rent, and take care of your property so that you do not end up in a housing crisis. While Good News Homes is here for our community, we only have 14 housing units and no emergency shelter.
On a positive note, we have seen God open impossible doors for people at the right time. We have some amazing people in our program, who came to us in a crisis, worked hard and then moved to permanent housing in the community they love. What a testimony they have of the Lord’s provision in their lives, and we are blessed to see those testimonies play out in real life.
