We Were Founded on Fair Housing
At Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC), we believe that access to safe, affordable housing is a basic human right. We are committed to eradicating discrimination and discriminatory practices in housing as well as to ensuring racial equity. It was the reason we were founded. For years, Black Kentuckians were deprived of affordable housing. There were few options, and they were all deplorable.
Rep. Mae Street Kidd, the founder of our organization, a Black woman, and a champion of affordable housing, pushed for change, urging her fellow legislators to extend all Kentuckians basic human rights. As a result, she sponsored bills that prohibited racial discrimination in housing and that provided first-time homebuyers low-interest loans. She gave a voice to the underrepresented, oppressed people she served, and today, we continue her fight.
What We're Doing
In recent years, we began the Empowering New Buyers program to shepherd new homebuyers from underrepresented communities through the homebuying process. Last year, we set a record in terms of loans awarded to minorities, yet they still account for less than 30 percent of KHC's new home loans. We must do more.
As Governor Andy Beshear said, "We are laying bare the problems in our society, and we need to recognize them. We also have to do something about them." COVID-19 and its economic impacts disproportionately affect people of color. We are actively working to provide significant emergency housing assistance so that people who have lost income due to COVID-19 can pay their landlords or lending institutions and avoid costly evictions and foreclosures that do not benefit anyone.
Our Pledge
At Kentucky Housing Corporation, people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual identities have always been and continue to be welcome. We pledge to do better. We strive to fight discriminatory housing practices, to end racial injustice in housing, to ensure equity and to be more inclusive in everything we do.