by Sheldon Compton
The Floyd County Times
January 2009
ARKANSAS CREEK – The old homeplace. Three words that can bring a smile to almost any Eastern Kentuckian.
And for a region in which the idea of home is a paramount concern, preservation of the old homeplace would be a top priority.
Tuesday afternoon, three family members had the staff at LINKS to thank for helping them stay in the same place where they were born and raised.
LINKS, the Low Income Housing Coalition of East Kentucky, started work with Danny and Franceen Crum nearly a year ago to help them tear down their old house and build a new one on the same land where Danny and his sister, Gladys, grew up.
During that process, LINKS Director Eddie Patton said Gladys Crum was helping his staff consider property lines along the family’s land when she asked about the possibility of getting a new home of her own.
“This was the first time we ever worked with a brother and sister who were neighbors,” Patton said during the Crums’ open house along Robinson Hollow at Arkansas Creek Tuesday. “But we ended up just tearing down both the old houses and putting these new houses in their place.”
Danny and Franceen entertained guests at their new two-bedroom home while Gladys invited friends of her own to her new house, an exact replica of her brother’s.
“I’m so grateful to be able to stay here,” Gladys Crum said. “I knew I was going to have to do something about the old house and I just appreciate what they have done for me.”
Gladys Crum had lived with her and Danny’s mother until 2006, when she passed away. She was buried on the land with their father, just above where the new homes now stand.
“I wish they were here to see this,” Danny Crum said Tuesday. “Our old house was about to fall down.”
Danny and Franceen Crum had lived for four decades in a mobile home beside Danny’s mother’s house before finally making the decision to apply for LINKS assistance.
On Tuesday, the Crums were all smiles as Gladys Crum poured coffee in her kitchen and Danny and Franceen Crum adjusted ornaments on a Christmas tree set up in their otherwise empty living room.
“Now we’re just eager to get all the rest of our stuff and get moved in for good,” Danny Crum said.
by Jack Latta
The Floyd County Times
Summer vacation takes on a whole different meaning for members of The United Churches of Durham, Conn., who for the last six years have been making the nearly 800-mile trip to eastern Kentucky to help construct homes.
The members spend all year raising money to make the weeklong summer trip, said group leader, the Rev. Dr. Elven Riggles Jr.
Many participate yearly. The church had 35 people participate in the first year and 72 came this year, he said. People from his congregations from age 10 to 83 make the trip, he said.
“We have a lot of families who give up a week to come down here,” Riggles said.
This year the group’s projects included building two homes in Johnson County near Stambaugh, and replacing a metal roof and floor in residences in the Frasure’s Creek community near McDowell.
The experience of visiting the mountains every year has been good for their members, Riggles said.
“There’s something about taking the kids out of what they’re used to,” he said. “Part of the experience is getting out of your own backyard.”
The members of the group look forward to the event every year, Riggles said. “They want to work, they don’t want to stop.”
Riggles said the buses alone, with rental fees and gas, come to about $2,000 apiece. This year they brought nine.
Fundraising efforts include obtaining corporate and business sponsorship in their hometown, selling T-shirts and collecting cans and bottles.
Church members began making the trips because the Low Income Housing Coalition of East Kentucky was working with missions. When the mission program ended, they decided to continue working with the coalition, Riggles said.
The nonprofit coalition works to provide safe, decent and affordable housing to low-income people, according to the coalition’s Web site. The program includes new construction, minor home repairs, making low-interest loans and homeownership counseling.
The average income of families for whom new homes are built is roughly $12,600 a year, and there are currently more than 300 applicants waiting for a home, according to the coalition.
But the church trip is not all work. While in Kentucky, the group takes Wednesday off to visit a local recreation area. They have visited Jenny Wiley State Resort Park and Natural Bridge. This year they visited Breaks Interstate Park.
“I’m not sure if it helps out the local economy, but we hit Wal-Mart every night for Gatorade and water too,” Riggles said.