Sunday, December 25, 2005 The large, beautifully decorated Christmas tree in Donna Harris’ living room almost masks the fact there is no furniture in the room. When Harris put the tree up in her small Paducah Housing Authority apartment last year, she and her children had to walk around it. Now, it fits perfectly in the front window of her new home, with room to spare. “It was too big last year,” Harris, 25, said. “But this works.” Harris has made a lot work for her this year. She is one of five new homeowners in the Heritage Place Subdivision, once the site of Lincoln Court, a sprawling public housing complex with 75 apartments. The Housing Authority tore down the apartments, located in a block bounded by Tennessee, Ohio and 8th streets and Roof Lane, in 2000. In 2004, the Housing Authority broke ground on the site to build 14 new single-family houses for its new Home Ownership Program. The homes, all between 1,300 and 1,600 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, are offered to qualifying applicants. The first homeowner moved in last August. Jackie Floyd, Paducah Housing Authority programs administrator, said the remaining nine homes should be filling up soon. “We’re phasing it in,” Floyd said. “We have a waiting list of families who have met the guidelines. Initially they will be leasing the homes from the Housing Authority’s lease/purchase program. Then they will go to a bank to apply for their mortgage. If they get approved, we will transfer ownership of the property to them.” The mortgage loans have minimized requirements and are readily available to those who take financing classes and have the authority’s recommendation. Another requirement is a minimum family income of $15,000. Harris, a single mother of two, attended the housing authority’s “Yes, You Can ... Own a Home” training seminar, sponsored by the Kentucky Housing Corporation, almost two years ago while she was studying for a degree as a physical therapy assistant at West Kentucky Community and Technical College. “For ’05 I had set a goal to be working and to be in the process of getting a home,” Harris said. “I got them both. I started working in January after I graduated.” Harris, who works at Hampton Physical Therapy, moved into her new home on South 7th Street in October. Her neatly landscaped neighborhood is just a block away from the high-crime area known as “the Set.” “People asked me why I would want to live on this side of town,” she said. “This is where I grew up. I’m not scared of this side of town.” Harris said she didn’t know if she could afford a house payment, but realized it was a better investment than paying rent every month. “I was going on blind faith,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of people ask me what this is all about. They want to know if (the Housing Authority) is giving them away. I wish they were giving them away. “When I went to the bank for the pre-approval, I was pretty nervous. I thought they would say I was too young or I didn’t have a credit history, but they gave me the go-ahead. It was a learning process the whole time. I have friends a year or two ahead of me who want a house. I tell them they don’t have to just want it. If they want it, do it.” Harris attended an open house of Heritage Place on June 25, her birthday. “I pretty much claimed one right away,” she said. “I said, ‘That one is mine.’” Harris lives in the house she picked out that day. The home has hardwood floors and a gas-burning fireplace, and her children, Khristan, 6, and Christopher, 3, have their own rooms. The bedrooms are furnished, but she still hasn’t purchased living room furniture. “I wanted a new start when I came here,” she said. “I didn’t want my old furniture. My old furniture was all black and I wanted to lighten up. I want to do it right the first time. Just knowing it’s mine, that’s the priceless part of it. You have so many stipulations when you have an apartment. You can’t put up (wallpaper) borders and you can’t paint.” Harris said it took her children time to get used to the extra space. Christopher even rode his Spider-Man bicycle inside the house. “We have room,” she said. “In the old place he couldn’t ride his tricycle in there without rolling over someone’s toes.” Besides getting furniture, Harris already has new goals lined up for the new year. In January, she will begin working toward a degree as a physical therapist at WKCTC, while continuing her job. “I am excited about next year now,” she said. “I want to make sure, besides my house and car, I don’t owe anybody. I’m giving myself to June. I don’t want to wait all year.” Harris keeps a busy schedule, but she said her favorite time is pulling into her driveway at the end of the day. “I can honestly say I look forward to coming home each day,” she said. “I couldn’t always say that. As soon as I got here, it felt like home.”
Printed with permission from The Paducah Sun. |
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