Chris Cassetty said the chance to lead Highlands Residential Services led him out of retirement.
Cassetty was the Director of Operations at Highlands until he retired. Cassetty said there seemed to be mutual interest on his return between him and the HRS Board. Cassetty said the board viewed him as “plug and play,” which makes him a good fit for the agency.
“I’ve spent basically half of my life at the housing authority, and it’s home,” Cassety said. “So I care about it. I care about the projects, the developments that are ongoing, the new construction. And I guess I still have that itch a little bit.”
As the new Director of Highlands Residential Services, Cassetty said he wanted to come out of retirement because a unique opportunity presented itself.
Cassetty said people have a negative view of public housing. Cassety said most of the residents are hard working people who need somewhere to go.
The truth of the matter is a fair portion of our tenants now get up and go to work every day and earn a living,” Cassetty said. They’re just trying to take care of their families and provide the best they can.”
Cassetty said affordable housing is a need everywhere, especially for the elderly and senior citizens. He said there are several developments in Cookeville exclusively for senior citizens.
Cassetty said Highlands Residential is branching into some transitional housing, including the new Red Bud Village development. Cassetty said it is for the homeless, near homeless, and veterans.
“That’s a scary word sometimes, homeless, when you say that to people,” Cassetty said. “The way you and I think of homeless, you think about the guy pushing the cart full of whatever down the road and living under a bridge. That certainly happens, unfortunately, in our community now. But the way these grants work now, you’re defined as homeless or near homeless if you’re paying more than 50 percent of your income in rent.”
Cassetty said the volume of people paying over half their income in rent needs to be addressed.
Cassetty replaces the retiring Dow Harris, who has been the director for nearly 30 years.
