Some $600,000 in grant funding will help begin construction on Redbud Village, a 20-unit development for those homeless or near homeless.
Highlands Residential Services Executive Director Chris Cassetty said the project has been in development for approximately three years while the agency worked to secure multiple funding sources. Cassetty said the recent Tennessee Housing Trust Fund grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency completes the some $5 million budget required to start the project.
“This does not cure homelessness, but it is a start and I think that’s one of the things that our governments, our private industry, that all of the people in the community ultimately need to understand, is that there is no one answer to homelessness,” Cassetty said.
Cassetty said Highlands Residential Services is contributing its own funds alongside the state grants. Cassetty said the complex will offer affordable housing, consisting of 10 one-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units located on Eagles Landing Drive near Buffalo Valley Road.
“If we can help 20 people here and then we can do some other things and maybe help more people and together eventually we can, you know, we can take some of the people off the streets that certainly don’t want to live there,” Cassetty said.
Cassetty said the units will follow an income-based rent model where tenants typically pay 30 percent of their income toward housing. Cassetty said the project targets individuals earning 50 percent or less of the area median income, including those facing eviction or those spending more than half of their take-home pay on rent.
“It really covers a much wider range of people than just ‘the guy standing on the corner holding up a sign,'” Cassetty said.
Cassetty said the demand for affordable housing in Cookeville has significantly outpaced the supply, particularly following the 2020 tornado that destroyed over 400 dwellings. Cassetty said while he cannot solve the national housing crisis, the goal for Redbud Village is to provide a stable environment that allows residents to eventually transition into other rental properties or homeownership.
“I think people way too often they hear the word ‘homeless’ and it and it scares ’em and it does draw up a bring up a very specific picture in their mind but that’s really that’s really not the only definition of homeless or again near homeless.”
“The better they improve themselves, the more money they make the more things they’re able to spend, the better they’re involved in our community and that’s better for the community and the economy all together,” Cassetty said.
Construction of the village is expected to be completed within the next year.
