Just a few months ago, Shaey Moss and her children were living in a camper. Then, the camper burned down.
Moss and her three children were able to move into a mobile home in Hopkinsville. However, even though she could pay for the physical building, Moss couldn’t pay for the land in the trailer park it sat on, resulting in her getting evicted from the property. Now, the family is couchsurfing and staying in cheap hotels.
Since her eviction, Moss said she’s gone to about 10 different places looking for housing assistance. She’s looked to places like the Salvation Army and the local school system for help. The money she’s making while working at the local Hampton Inn is spent to help feed her family and keep them in temporary housing, which she said has made it harder for her to save up for a new place to live.
“In order to get a house, you got to have money, but you got to spend money to live, so that’s the biggest problem,” Moss said.
Her struggle to find housing isn’t something that economic experts and local officials find surprising. In a study published earlier this year, the Kentucky Housing Corporation identified a need for 13% more units in Christian County than is currently available to meet the community’s needs. This translates to 3,430 rental and for-sale housing options – a number the organization projects will increase by nearly 1,000 units by 2029.