Dayspring Health

Fahe provided a loan to Dayspring Health, Inc. to transform an abandoned Walmart building in Williamsburg, Kentucky into a state-of-the-art medical and dental facility.  

Williamsburg is located in Whitley County, which the federal government has designated as a persistent poverty county, a Health Professional Shortage Area, and a Medically Underserved Area. Currently, some Whitley County residents must travel 75 miles or more to access quality healthcare. Reliable transportation is an issue for many, and this often stops patients from receiving preventative care or treatment for ongoing health concerns. Dayspring Health’s new facility will significantly reduce this travel burden.

The 57,000-square-foot space, which will be operational by July 2024, will provide medical, diagnostic, behavioral health, and dental services, in addition to physical therapy and substance use disorder treatment. It will also create up to 50 permanent, high-quality jobs. 

Kirkland Place

Fahe’s Community Loan Fund provided financing for Eastern 8 Community Development Corporation to construct affordable housing in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Eastern 8 will construct four townhomes and one duplex in the town’s Kirkland Place subdivision, and these new homes will be sold to families living at or below the area median income of $56,550. Construction is nearing completion in the spring of 2024, and it is expected the homes will sell quickly.

Eastern 8 serves Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City, Tennessee—an area commonly referred to as “the Tri-Cities”—and eight counties in northeastern Tennessee: Carter, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington. Hawkins and Hancock are designated by the federal government as persistent poverty counties. A Fahe Member, Eastern 8 provides access to affordable housing, affordable rentals, homebuyer education, and home rehabilitation. After researching the town’s housing stock, Eastern 8 found there were just 56 homes for sale in Jonesborough. All but two of these homes were either already under contract, in need of significant repairs, or priced higher than $265,000, putting them out of reach for families living at or below the area median income. Rental options were also severely limited, with only two single-family homes and two 2-bedroom apartments available in Jonesborough. 

Seeing the deep need for more housing in the area, Fahe invested in the project, unlocking a $600,000 grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Authority (THDA) that will help qualified buyers with down payment and closing costs. When asked why they were supporting the Kirkland Place project, THDA’s Executive Director Ralph Perry stated, “We don’t see as much being built, and we especially don’t see as much being built at entry-level price points. That’s why this project, Kirkland Place, really attracted us.”

Riverplace

Fahe provided financing to expand Riverplace, a residential treatment facility for men with substance use disorders. Located outside of Pikeville, Kentucky, Riverplace was opened in August 2019 in a partially renovated historic middle school by local businessman Greg May. Like many parts of Appalachia, Pikeville and the rest of eastern Kentucky have suffered heavily due to the opioid epidemic, which has led to a record number of drug convictions and overdose deaths in the area over the last decade. 

Initially, Riverplace could only treat 36 people at a time, and the facility only employed a dozen staff members. Since Greg May renovated the rest of the building with Fahe’s help, Riverplace can now accommodate 120 residents. The renovation also strengthened the local economy by allowing Riverplace to hire nearly 40 new employees, including peer support specialists, nurses, nurse practitioners, and residential staff. 

“One of my favorite projects has been Riverplace,” said Dwain Neeley, Fahe’s Vice President of Community  Lending. “A memory that will always stick with me is seeing guys come into the center that very first day and then again on Day 62. Their outlook on life and their plans had totally turned around since Day 1. They were inspired about their future, and that was inspiring to me.”

Tygart Hotel

Fahe’s Community Loan Fund provided financing for Woodlands Development Group to renovate the historic Tygart Hotel in downtown Elkins, West Virginia. 

Built in 1907, the six-story, 7400-square-foot property operated as a hotel and commercial retail property until the mid-1960s, when it underwent a conversion to permanent housing. Over the past several decades, regular maintenance was neglected and the building fell into severe disrepair.

 It has long been the goal of many in the community to return the historic hotel to its original grandeur and purpose. Thanks to support from Fahe, local officials, and other community leaders, the property is being converted into a full-service boutique lodging facility and joining Choice Hotels’ “Ascend Hotel Collection” brand.  The finished hotel will include 58 guest rooms, a restaurant and lounge, over 1,000 square feet of meeting space, a gift shop, other vending areas, and parking. 

This project, anticipated to be fully operational in April 2024, will help revitalize Elkins’ downtown area and generate significant economic benefits for the local community. The hotel will be a destination for tourists visiting the region’s many attractions, including the popular Mountain Rail Adventures excursion trains. It will also create 150 well-paying temporary jobs and 50 permanent positions.