Gleanings News
Newsletters
Building on Generosity:
The incredible $15,000 grant from BGCF365, awarded to Gleanings Housing in May, has been the financial foundation for the framing phase of our Florence Ave duplex build.
With the slab foundation complete in early August, we started framing on September 6th. Thanks to a dedicated crew of volunteers, we worked every Saturday throughout September, quickly moving from a concrete slab to a towering lumber frame ready for roof trusses. A huge part of this success was our volunteer framing foreman, who brought 35 years of professional knowledge to our team.
The Newest Project: Florence Ave Duplex
Gleanings Housing purchased 732 Florence Ave vacant lot from the Master Commissioners Sale in November of 2024. The lot is zoned R2 and conveniently located on a public bus route, with Douglass Park less than a mile away. Duane Clup, a retired licensed architect, has completed architectural drawings for the duplex able to be used to obtain building permits. The duplex will feature one one-bedroom unit and one two-bedroom unit, both designed to remain affordable for the city's most economically disadvantaged households.
The Housing Supply Gap Explored
The gap in our housing supply has definite numbers, both in Kentucky and Lexington. The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) commissioned Bowen National Research to complete a comprehensive survey of the state’s housing supply. Their survey analysis resulted in housing supply information as of 2024 and a projected estimate of housing supply gap for 2029 to assist housing providers, developers, local leaders, and nonprofit organizations with a better understanding of the state of the housing market. Here are the numbers:
The Cost of Housing
The ‘experts’ are suggesting that the increased cost has come due to a bottlenecking of supply and demand. This would lead to a decrease in cost within the next several months. Other ‘experts’ predict that a small drop will occur, but the price of materials is now shifted to a new level due to aging population, limited natural resources, shifting economies and a plethora of other factors.
Housing Shortage
The ‘starter’ home, a single-family house usually less than 1500 sq ft, hit peak production as the staple of residential housing in late 1970s. The US construction sector was building 418,000 new ‘starter’ homes a year. That peak coincided with homeownership rates peaking, which suggests that an entry-level housing supply has a connection to homeownership.
Financing Affordable
Affordable housing, affectionately known as housing projects, until the late 1960s was built and managed directly by the government.
Increasing Equity or Equality?
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 came as a solution to the question of how to achieve equity among all Americans.
Concentrated Disadvantage or Geography of Opportunity
Have you ever wondered why Gleanings Housing has a vision of scattered housing units?
Lexington’s Growth Vision and Housing
It is exciting to recognize that a Lexingtonian’s vision for Lexington includes neighborhoods full of diverse people, activities and spaces.
Newsletter Sign-Up
Contact us with your email and we will set you up to receive newsletters monthly and stay up-to-date on affordable housing changes.
Resources
-
Homelessness is defined in four distinct categories identified below.
Transitional homelessness is the most common type, and is defined as “a state of homelessness that’s a result of a major life change or catastrophic event.”
Episodic Homelessness is an experience where people are currently unhoused with at least 3 periods of homelessness in the last 12 months. Episodic homelessness can become chronic homelessness if adequate resources and support are not available.
Chronic Homelessness is identified as "an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition" who has been homeless for more than one year. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, people experiencing chronic homelessness tend to be older, have some type of medical or mental disability that prevents them from escaping homelessness, while this category also makes up about 17% of the total homeless population.
Hidden Homelessness is the fourth type and description can be found in next level of this display.
-
Hidden Homelessness is the fourth type and is made up of people who are living temporarily with others without a permanent residence and are most likely to be overlooked by statistical data sets. Since they are not provided housing support services, so this group cannot be readily identified. People experiencing hidden homelessness tend to turn to friends, family, and neighbors for refuge from being unsheltered in the elements. Often times this group is made up of younger people who have experienced a sudden and catastrophic life altering event such as trauma, loss of a loved one, and undiagnosed illness.
-
Hit these links to see for yourself the state of affordable housing in America today.
-
Males in Kentucky have an average income that is 1.34 times higher than the average income of females, which is $45,693. The income inequality in Kentucky (measured using the Gini index) is 0.454, which is lower than the national average.
These are not the only discrepancies, as many factors can create vulnerability among individuals and families to becoming unhoused for extended periods of time.
Click the links to see the information and collected data. Keeping in mind that many "hidden" homeless individuals and families do not even make it into these numbers.
-
Affordable housing was set to 25% of a household's income going to rent or mortgage payments. Today the percentage has moved to 30%, identifying the raise in cost of living from years ago.
For a person or household to be considered "living in an affordable housing situation," they would need to spend no more than 30% of their monthly income on housing costs (this includes public works such as electricity and water, as well as internet; as it is seen as a basic social need in today's world). Click the links present to read through the information provided.
-
Unstable housing markets from 2008 to today, have caused immediate and clearly evident impacts on families working in service industries, minimum wage small business positions, etc. To account for these impacts, communities like Lexington, KY must begin to provide housing as a human right, not as a commodity that should be dictated by markets. It will take communities of people working toward a common goal to create the deepest changes for people struggling with homelessness.
-
To help you disseminate this data please check out the 2023 Census Quickfacts on the housing crisis. These numbers can illuminate you to the shear number of deficits in housing. This also illustrates why it would be impossible for the government to house everyone in need, so communities must take a stake in helping others.