Housing Development Alliance, Inc. celebrated the first phase of homes in the Knott County high ground community Chestnut Ridge.
The alliance is one of four nonprofit organizations that is building homes on this high ground site. The site is planned to have 200 total homes on it when building is completed.
For the first phase, HDA built 17 homes and plans to build at least 10 more in the next phase. The new neighborhood is located near the Knott County Sportsplex.
The alliance is a community development financial institution and has the power to provide financial assistance to local residents.
Mindy Miller is the director of development and communications for the alliance. She said celebrating the completion of phase one on this site shows how it takes a lot of people to accomplish a large goal.
“When we come together, we can make big things happen, and it takes not only a lot of people on the local level, but we need a lot of people at the state and national level to make these things happen for people who are in great need,” Miller said. “Hopefully people see that people in Eastern Kentucky don't need saving, we just need investment, we just need buy-in and belief, and a helping hand now and then.”
Miller said with help and support, the alliance can build large scale projects and model that work for other groups.
“If people invest in what we're doing here, it's going to help us do more, because we can do a lot,” Miller said. “The more people really invest in us, the more we're going to be able to do, the more people we're going to be able to help, and it's a stronger Eastern Kentucky makes all of Kentucky stronger and better.”
Chestnut Ridge is on a reclaimed mining site donated by a coal company. Each site received funding to help offset the building costs. Of the 17 alliance homes, 13 families have already moved in and the others are expected to move in soon.
Each of the four builders at the Chestnut Ridge site have a variety of different investors and funders, which Miller said shows a lot of people coming together to make the neighborhood happen.
Miller said there’s been an “Appalachian exodus” in recent years, but there’s also been people expressing interest in moving back home as more and more homes have been built.
“There's a lot of potential for growth because of the high ground communities,” Miller said. “I think you're going to see more economic development in and around them, but we do hope to see more land come to us that you can call high ground.”
The move to build homes on high ground sites came after the historic 2022 floods when thousands of homes across Appalachia were destroyed.
“Before the flood, some really good changes were taking place,” Miller said. “We were attempting to diversify our economy. We were attempting to move on from coal. We've not quite done that yet, but the possibilities are there, and I think that we have a lot more people who see that.”
