Village nears completion; to be ready for occupation in spring

By ROBBY LUCKE
Staff

Highland Village, a development to provide affordable housing to low-income families, is now taking applications and will be ready for occupation early this spring.

The project, sponsored by Northwestern Housing Enterprises (NHE), is designed to help families progress toward self-sufficiency and home ownership.

Located on an eight-acre site at the corner of Moxley Road and Industrial Park Drive, Highland Village will include 30 dwelling units built duplex-style, according to developer Ned Fowler, who is the executive director of Northwestern Regional Housing Authority (NRHA). Fowler said the complex will offer low density, high quality housing unusual for apartments. "It gives families more room, something they can feel good about," he said.

Residents will be required to participate in a family self-sufficiency program operated by NRHA. The program offers incentives, supportive services, scholarship programs and counseling.

Gutter WORK - Workers from Sheets Brothers Inc. of Jeffersonare shown
installing a seamless gutter on one of the buildings at Highland
Village. Construction is ahead of schedule, with the first occupants
expected in March.

Fowler said the program requires progress toward educational and employment goals. "The end goal is for them to get out of a renting situation and become first-time homeowners," he said.

Another goal for families is to become independent of all forms of public assistance within five years.

Two of the 30 units will be equipped for handicapped accessibility. The Highland Village site will also include a "tot lot", a playground, walking trails, a community meeting room and an on-site management office.

Fowler said field representative Celina J. Cyrus, a longtime NRHA employee in Sparta, will be managing Highland Village.

Cyrus said construction there is ahead of schedule, although weather has been a factor.

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