FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Krista Buckel
krista.buckel@cvky.org
859-231-0054 x. 1034
FULTON, KY. (August 5, 2024) – Community Ventures (CV), Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC), the City of Fulton, the City of South Fulton, Fulton County, and the Fulton-Hickman Counties Economic Development Partnership today joined homeowners in celebrating the completion and purchase of two new structural insulated panel (SIP) homes in Fulton with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The SIP homes are the third and fourth new houses to be built in Fulton in more than 10 years.
“Kentucky has significant housing needs and we’re thankful for the opportunity to work alongside state, county, and local partners to demonstrate how SIP homes can be an affordable, speedy, and energy-efficient means to meet these housing needs,” said Brenda Weaver CV’s President of Lending and Western Kentucky Disaster Recovery.
The high-quality, affordable, and energy-efficient homes were constructed in a matter of days to create affordable housing options for residents and meet the ongoing housing demand in Fulton County.
Christina Bellavance, one of the new homeowners, shared her excitement about purchasing her home. “As a widow with strong family ties to the Fulton community, I am so thankful to find an affordable, brand-new home so I can live in the area and start a business,” said homeowner Christina Bellavance. “My family and their friends are establishing new businesses to make Fulton the great place it used to be, and I’m proud to join them.”
According to the 2024 KY Housing Supply Gap Analysis by KHC, Kentucky needs 206,207 new homes to meet the housing demand of residents. Since 2023, the City of Fulton, the City of South Fulton, Fulton County, Fulton County Detention Center, the Fulton-Hickman Counties Economic Development Partnership, and nonprofit Community Ventures have been working to create housing solutions for Fulton.
In April, the partners constructed two new homes on Fourth Street in Fulton using Extreme Panel Technologies SIPs, which are high-performance panels used to construct walls, floors, and roofs of residential and commercial buildings.
The project was funded by the Rural Housing Trust Fund (RHTF), which is administered by the Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC).
“KHC is proud to be a funder for these projects,” said Wendy Smith, Deputy Executive Director of Housing Programs for KHC. “According to our recent housing study, Fulton County needs 317 new housing units—a 12% increase in units to meet their economic needs, and we appreciate Community Ventures innovative construction approach to bringing much-needed homeownership units to market in Kentucky.”
In June 2023, the partners broke ground on the first new home to be built in the City of Fulton in the last sixteen years, completed four months later in October. In April 2024, the agencies and organizations teamed up to build two new homes using SIP technology, and in May the partners celebrated the completion of another new home for a first-time homeowner.
To view our timelapse video of the construction of these homes, visit https://cvky.org/venture/wkydisasterrelief.
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About Community Ventures: Founded in 1982 as a community-based, non-profit organization, Community Ventures (CV) strengthens communities and improves the overall quality of life for Kentuckians by supporting job creation, small business ownership, and home ownership. CV is headquartered in Lexington with branch locations in Bowling Green, Campbellsville, Louisville, Mayfield, Millersburg, and Owensboro. For 21 consecutive years, CV has been named Microlender of the Year by the Kentucky Small Business Administration.
