KHC and Partners Celebrate Grand Opening of New Refuge for Women Apartment Complex

FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) Deputy Executive Director of Housing Programs Wendy Smith joined executives and staff from Refuge for Women (RFW) and Winterwood on Friday, February 2, 2024, to officially dedicate a specialty housing development for women recovering from the trauma of sexual exploitation.

Called Free to Flourish, this new independent living complex features 24 units and a community center with a career center, classrooms, and other amenities. Six two-bedroom units will accommodate families and other units in the complex have been outfitted with wheelchair access. In addition to housing, the residents will receive ongoing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual support from dedicated staff and volunteers.

“One of the most competitive resources that we allocate across Kentucky are Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, which is what helped build this new 24-unit development,” said Smith. “These resources are so important and we are so excited to be able to invest a little bit of them into what we consider an innovative project. I’m excited about how holistic this is and what a refuge it will be.”

KHC allocated $750,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) and another $514,829 in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to help fund this project.

Free to Flourish opened in January. Five residents have already moved in and another three have been approved.

Kentucky Housing Corporation, the state housing finance agency, was created by the 1972 General Assembly to provide affordable housing opportunities.  As a self-supporting, public corporation, Kentucky Housing offers down payment assistance loans to assist first-time homebuyers obtain home mortgages, housing production financing, homeownership education/counseling, rental assistance, housing rehabilitation, and supportive housing programs for special needs populations.