Kent Attainable Housing hosted a lunch and learn with District 46 Delegate Brooke Lierman at The Retriever Bar in Chestertown to discuss state housing policy and implications for local rural communities like Kent County.
Brooke was a lead sponsor for legislation that is designed to help confront the real estate appraisal gap in redlined communities; specifically, “the bill would provide funds to help developers cover the gap between renovation costs and appraisal values in certain distressed areas, a persistent thorn in neighborhood redevelopment efforts,” according to Baltimore Business Journal.
Kent Attainable Housing Executive Darius Johnson says that the ability to access funding to close the appraisal gap is critical to KAH’s mission.
“We’re currently providing those funds using private donations from the local community. Public funding (from this legislation) would enable us to stretch our dollar further and create a deeper impact for the families that we’re striving to help,” Johnson says.
Kent County has a strong wealth gap and public funding key to closing that gap and creating opportunities for families to build a better life.
“Rural communities tend to struggle to capitalize on these funding programs, so it was extremely beneficial to discuss Kent County’s unique challenges and opportunities with Delegate Lierman, who is a strong advocate for equitable housing.”
There is still data to be collected and studies to be conducted before the funding is deployed, but Johnson felt that the conversation was helpful for KAH’s positioning and understanding.
This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more about Kent Attainable Housing please go here
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.