Low-income housing to be built for Hispanics
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Designed to assist migrant farm workers in Warren County, the housing units are planned to be built next to Odom Nursery on Highway 55 on roughly two acres of land and are going to be called Beacon Light Apartments.
The complex consists of 24 total units, each with two or three bedrooms. Three two-story buildings of eight units per building are planned to be built along with a separate office and laundry building.
While the presumption is the complex will benefit workers who are Hispanic with subsidized housing, officials noted the complex is designed to serve legal Hispanics and all others who are considered seasonal or migrant laborers.
The effort is being funded through the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s farm labor housing program, which offers low-cost mortgage loans and grants to state or local governments and nonprofit organizations. The project is being managed by the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD).
Rural Development’s state director Ruth Tackett, who announced Wednesday’s groundbreaking, said the project is the first of its kind and is designed to improve the living conditions of farm laborers and their families who reside in Warren County.
UCDD learned about the plight of the county’s Hispanic population through the local office of Tennessee Opportunity Programs, which provides financial assistance to seasonal and legal migrant workers as a federally-funded non-profit organization, and by surveying local nurseries.
“We had to do some research about the housing needs for that population and in doing so, we learned some had adequate housing and some did not have adequate housing,” UCDD Deputy Director Larry Webb said.
“Some of them were living in cars or were living day to day with someone they work with and things of that sort. You have to have a strong need or these folks won’t give you the money,” he added of the federal agency, “and the need was there for Warren County.”
Asked to provide a scope of the problem after Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Tennessee Opportunity Programs’ housing case manager Carolyn Barnhill agreed the plight of the migrant farm workers is troublesome.
Having seen first hand the living conditions of numerous seasonal and migrant families, she said overcrowding, structural problems, lack of appliances and housing cost burdens are common among agricultural laborers.
Many workers live in mobile homes or apartments and pay more than 30 percent of their income in weekly rent, which can be difficult to pay during rainy times of the year. Many living conditions are simply poor.
“Some of them don’t have heat or electricity and sometimes the plumbing isn’t working and then if they don’t pay their rent on time, they cut their water off,” she said, adding she expects the new housing units to fill quickly.
It’s something she said she is glad to see happen.
“They need a decent place to live just like everybody else does,” she said. “They work for their money and they work hard for it, so I’m glad to see this project take off. It’s been in the works for so many years.”
Officials said construction is scheduled to begin tomorrow and estimated about 10 months of construction.
PHOTO INFO:
From left, David Weed, representing U.S. Sen. Bill Frist’s office, USDA Rural Development state director Mary Ruth Tackett, UCDD executive director Wendy Askins, Coralee Holloway of THDA, Lyndsay Botts, representing U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander’s office and Lori McKee, representing U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis’ office, break ground on Beacon Light Apartments in Morrison. (Amy Satterwhite photo)