Breaking ground for affordable homes

State and local officials recently turned out to break ground for construction to begin for new homes on Waddell Place in Oak Ridge's Highland View neighborhood.

Maria Catron, executive director of the Oak Ridge Housing Authority, explained there will be three new homes on the site built for homeownership. They will be in the low $200,000 price range and will also cost about that much to build.

Catron said she hopes these houses will be available by this fall. The Oak Ridge Community Development Corp. will manage their construction, but the funds will come from the Tennessee Housing Development Corp. using the Community Investment Tax Credit program.

Nonprofit Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, Catron said, plans to build a home on an adjacent lot.

The area formerly supported two four-plexes, Catron said. As The Oak Ridger has reported, the Oak Ridge Land Bank acquired this land that previously held these "blighted" properties.

"There's an enormous need to fix things up and in some cases tear things down and build new stuff," Ralph Perrey, executive director for the Tennessee Housing Development Authority, said in a speech at the event. 

"We know there's a shortage of housing in the real estate market right now," City Manager Mark Watson said regarding the need the new homes will fill.

The affordable housing struggle

Even as the higher-priced housing market expands, the demand for affordable housing and housing assistance has continued.

Catron, over the past few months, has talked to several groups about the challenges facing public housing programs in Oak Ridge, even as the city's higher-priced housing continues to expand.

She said the waiting list for both public housing programs and for Section 8 housing is around 1,000 households. About half of the people are on both lists, she said.

Catron addressed Altrusa International of Oak Ridge, a civic organization, and the city-appointed Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission about the issues, as well as discussing them with the Oak Ridge Housing Authority Board. She also answered questions from The Oak Ridger about these people awaiting Housing Authority help.

"There's a real need" she said regarding the people in need of housing and assistance. "We're serving the neediest of the needy right now."

She said homeless people, veterans, victims of abuse and people displaced due to natural disasters get priority with regard to assistance.

Working with others

Catron has expressed hope that nonprofit groups can help take some of the strain off of public housing programs.

"There is a need for longer term, strategic thinking," Catron said. She pointed to the work done by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce's housing committee as an example of a group looking to address these long-term goals.

"We can't do it all by ourselves. We're not in a vacuum," she told Altrusans. She talked about working with Trinity Out-Reach Center for Homeless in general, as well as the YWCA to help victims of domestic violence. She also talked to the newspaper about working with Chamber of Commerce on ideas for housing solutions.

COVID-19 rent relief

Catron also said COVID-19 related rent relief is still available. She confirmed that the details of this program remain as they were earlier in the pandemic. People who have been affected financially by the pandemic since March 13 qualify if they make 80% or less of their area's median household income.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, email him at bpounds@oakridger.com and follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal.