Groundbreaking Signals New Hope for Flood-Impacted Families in Floyd County
FRANKFORT, Kentucky — Representatives from Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) and Frontier Housing joined Gov. Andy Beshear, housing advocates, and local leaders in Prestonsburg yesterday to celebrate the groundbreaking of three new homes at New Hope Estates—a high-ground housing site designed for families impacted by recent flooding. While this event initiated a significant step forward for three families who have endured years of instability due to the devastating floods, it also marked the beginning of construction on the entire subdivision and a new hope for Floyd County.
New Hope Estates is one of several high-ground housing sites established by the Department for Local Government (DLG) to provide safer, more resilient housing options for flood-impacted families. The subdivision, located next to the Big Sandy Area Development District building, is part of a two-phase plan that will eventually offer 33 lots for new home construction.
KHC invested $314,715 for the construction of the first three homes.
“This groundbreaking is a reflection of what’s possible when funders, nonprofit partners, and local leaders come together with a shared purpose,” said Winston Miller, executive director and chief executive officer of KHC. “It is only by leveraging multiple funding sources that we can respond to the urgent needs of flood-impacted families and advance safe, affordable, high-ground housing across the region.”
The three families being celebrated are Ruby Hale, who has lived with her grandchildren and father George in a flood-damaged home since 2022; Claudette Reffitt and her son Christopher, who lost their trailer in the 2021 flood and have been renting ever since; and Kimberly Jones and her husband Steven, who lost all of their belongings in the 2021 flood and have moved between rentals while searching for a permanent home.
This project is a model of braided funding—combining state, federal, and private dollars through the Rural Housing Trust Fund (RHTF), Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA-RD), Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program (FHLB-AHP), and philanthropic donations. These three homes are being developed by Mountain Housing Corporation with Frontier Housing serving as general contractor and funder. The Floyd County Fiscal Court, Big Sandy ADD, FAHE, and the Housing Can’t Wait initiative have all played important roles in making this project possible.
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.
