Membership Highlight: Partnership Housing

Collaboration is at the heart of our work at Fahe.  From the national level to regional and local levels, our Network brings together people and places to ensure community solutions where everyone has a chance to succeed. 

In Booneville, KY, Linda and Brooksie Hall and their two children were able to achieve their dream of homeownership thanks to the collaboration of Fahe Member Partnership Housing with the family and their local community. “Owning a home has changed our lives in a big way,” said Linda. “We don’t have to worry about our roof and windows any more. We had a lot of repairs to do to our old home.”

The team at Partnership Housing has worked for years to build deep relationships with local businesses that now donate materials and services every time Partnership Housing builds a new home. “Construction on the Hall’s home brought together the City of Booneville, Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative, Jackson Energy, and Farmer’s State Bank,” said Cassie Hudson, Executive Director of Partnership Housing and Chair of the Fahe Kentucky Caucus. These strong collaborations not only lower the cost of the house for the family, but also bring the community together to celebrate their neighbors’ step into homeownership.

The Halls have lived in Booneville their entire lives.  Brooksie works for a local transportation service, driving clients to medical appointments sometimes as far as two and half hours to Cincinnati, OH. Linda is a stay-at-home mom caring for their two young children.  Their new home brings several positive changes into their lives.  It provides financial relief from the ongoing repairs to their previous home and provides a greater saving in utility bills.  It allows their children a larger and safer place to grow up, including having their own rooms.

More importantly to the Halls, the home provides a personal and cost-effective space for family gatherings, which are of great significance to the family.  Linda discussed how close both sides of the family are, coming together for milestones such as birthdays, graduations, and holidays.  The house and yard are large enough to accommodate their extended family, removing the need to rent out venues. 

“This house was a blessing,” said Linda. “It was a little scary at first.  But having Cassie helping us through was the biggest help.  She answered all of our questions and walked us through what we needed to do, sometimes even after hours.”

Thanks to Partnership Housing’s deep collaborations with their community, they are able to provide better housing options for the families they serve.  Being a part of the Fahe Network allows Partnership to access outside resources and training as well as allowing the organization to share their processes and knowledge base with other Members across Appalachia.  Working alongside our colleagues in the Partners for Rural Transformation, Fahe uses the information gathered from our Network to increase the awareness of challenges and solutions in our communities on the national level.

For more information on Partnership Housing, visit https://www.facebook.com/PartnershipHousingInc/.

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