David Hastings, the director of Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky, known locally as HONK, gave a special presentation at Tuesday night’s Dayton City Council meeting, where he highlighted the importance of the homeownership-focused nonprofit.
HONK started in 1991 as a project organized by John Binzer, of Erlanger, and Fr. Jack Goeke to solve the housing instability crisis in the region. Focusing on low-income families, the eventual organization began a lease-to-own project throughout NKY. According to the group’s webpage, HONK has built 37 homes, bought and rehabbed another one 118, and permanently housed one 119 families to date.
The group offers services beyond housing options. They also have a full-time housing counselor to help residents get “home-owner-ready,” which means improving their credit score and assistance with the home-buying process. According to the director, the usual timeline is twelve to eighteen months from initial lease to ownership.
“We’re making generational changes,” Hastings said. “A lot of these folks are not only first time homebuyers, but many are the first generation in their family to own their home. We’re very proud of that.”
Hastings concluded his remarks by announcing that HONK has a property in Dayton which they are actively seeking residents for at 600 7th Avenue. HONK eligibility guidelines and applications can be found on their website. In addition to services provided by the nonprofit, Hastings also suggested people look at the Northern Kentucky HOME Consortium’s offerings. The city of Dayton itself has a down-payment assistance program through the consortium.