Making it possible to be at home in Holmes County

A contingent of citizens from Holmes County who make up the Holmes County Housing Coalition gathered Feb. 24 at Cider Press in Millersburg to further discuss how the county can improve its housing and transportation issues, or lack thereof.

Much of the discussion centered around how the members can entice more Holmes County citizens to get involved and give their thoughts.

United Way of Wayne & Holmes County has become a driving force in building this coalition, and with its finger on the pulse of so many different organizations and community members, it serves as a perfect conduit to drive change in the housing issues.

HCHC Chairperson Ashley Hershberger and Katie Koglman, chief executive officer of United Way, spearheaded the conversation that took place.

Hershberger said an online survey was posted, and while there were 185 submissions received, it would be fantastic to get more insight from more people who have been affected by the lack of affordable, quality housing in the county.

Concerns were addressed, like limited senior housing, rising costs, not enough starter homes and affordable rentals and more.

“Our hope is to create a shared understanding of the core housing challenge Holmes County must address,” Hershberger said. “Nobody here is an expert in everything, but you’re all experts in something, and all of these brains here can make something special happen.”

Most importantly, the meeting included plenty of honest conversation, the one thing the committee chairs want to see come out of this group.

“We have so many different representatives from so many different sectors of our community. It's so amazing,” Hershberger said. “We have different opinions, different walks of life, different experiences and different age groups thinking outside the box.”

Hershberger said one thing the group hopes to focus on is the idea of thinking beyond themselves, beyond what they are used to experiencing, and thinking of others who may not experience life in the same way.

She said being open to new ideas and actually listening to the various types of people living in the county will be an important step in creating growth in the housing industry.

She said with the hope of receiving more surveys from every walk of life in Holmes County, the important thing is following through on pursuing solutions to the housing issues that haunt not just Holmes County, but all the nation right now.

“You don’t want to fill out a (survey) and give your opinion and then have nobody do anything about it,” Hershberger said.

The group conversation centered around several key topics including defining what are the top housing priorities, who is being most affected by the housing shortage, and if nothing changes, what does that mean for the future growth of Holmes County.

Hershberger shared what the initial dive into the survey presented.

Much of the conversation centered around families who can’t afford to purchase or rent high-end housing, families or couples struggling simply to make ends meet paycheck to paycheck. Another topic was seeing area families having young adults hoping to return to Holmes County after college who can’t find living quarters because the lack of housing.

Koglman said the biggest need right now in both Holmes and Wayne counties is one-bedroom housing that is affordable for young couples and seniors.

“Our focus is going to be whatever this group considers to be important and valuable,” Koglman said.

Group members shared their thoughts and vision and added plenty of food for thought.

“We as a group are going to figure some things out,” Tara Martin said. “There are people here who can let us know why something won’t work or why it might work. We must connect the dots and figure it out together, but we are fortunate because this is a county where we take care of and invest in each other.”

One of the assets of the group was it had members who are invested in people who are struggling with challenges, like Holmes County adult probation officer Tabby Hemenway, Debbi Miller of Love In the Name of Christ, Holmes County Veterans Administrator Dan Stackhouse, Laura McCartney of Holmes County Habitat for Humanity and others.

The committee members agreed it was going to take individual effort to build relationships and reach out into the community to build the best picture possible as to the exact needs.

“I love the energy of what’s happening here,” said Ted Thorpe, Killbuck Village Council member.

While these initial steps are important, there is much work to be done.

“We’re far from where we need to be, but it’s a start,” Stackhouse said. “We only had 185 surveys out of 42,000 people who live here.”