Eastern Eight reaches out to veterans

A home with promise

Veteran enjoys apartment thanks to Eastern Eight program

Greg, an Air Force veteran, had come a long way in a short time, but in late 2010 an unhealthy roommate situation led him to choose temporary homelessness over an environment that could have led to worse trouble. Fortunately, Greg said, he quickly learned about Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation and was able to get into his own apartment, where he has been able to continue moving his life in the right direction.

“I was pretty sure I was going to be homeless for awhile,” said Greg, who had battled back from financial and other life problems only to face yet another challenge. “I had been to everywhere that I knew to go, and there was nothing.”

Finally, though, Greg visited the Appalachian Regional Commission on Homelessness, and the folks at ARCH put him in touch with Eastern Eight. As it turned out, Greg was a great candidate for an apartment in one of two buildings Eastern Eight renovated in partnership with Bank of Tennessee, through a Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati grant.

Within two weeks, Greg said, the ARCH/Eastern Eight partnership had done enough legwork to get Greg into 500 Lamont Street, a building Eastern Eight rehabilitated into high-quality apartments in 2010.

“Through my good luck and their willingness to put a lot of effort into the situation, they got me into a place,” Greg said. “This is fantastic – quiet, peaceful, I have really good neighbors down here.”

Eastern Eight Executive Director Retha Patton was thinking about veterans like Greg when she decided to purchase 500 Lamont Street, which is just a few blocks from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home. The idea for meeting that need came first, and then Eastern Eight set about finding the right grant to help them achieve it, which is where the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Affordable Housing Program grant came into play.

Eastern Eight produced 15 apartment units in the two buildings, and many are now occupied by veterans. Eastern Eight is able to subsidize rents to some degree, which has made the one-bedroom unit Greg shares with a new canine buddy, Freyja, fall within his budget.

Fellow veteran and Tennessee First District Congressman Phil Roe praised Eastern Eight’s efforts provide safe, affordable housing for those who have served our country.

“Helping those most in need by providing stable and affordable housing is an important and necessary undertaking,” Roe said. “I can’t think of anything better than putting an American citizen in a home.”

Greg believes the wind down of troop deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan is likely to intensify the need for assisted housing for veterans.

“There are a lot of veterans who just need a chance to get into a place to stay, and become self-sufficient, and productive members of society. With all the troops that are going to be coming back … there’s going to be a huge need. I’ve me a lot of young homeless veterans.”