Presbyterian Church Holds Housing Forum

By Gordon HopkinsHousing, particularly affordable housing, has been of increasing concern for rural communities, with locating and navigating resources proving difficult for many in need of information. In response, the First United Presbyterian Church of Fairbury hosted a community housing forum on Tuesday, March 12. The purpose was to allow members of the public to ask a panel of experts questions about the current housing market.On the panel were Twilya L’Ecuyer, Executive Director of the Fairbury Housing Authority; Ryan Bailey and Kim Clark with Blue Valley Community Action; Dakota Howe, Program Manager at Southeast Nebraska Collaborative; and Jeff Hammer, Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer for Brunning Bank. Dave Conde, the Ministry Coordinator at First United Presbyterian Church's Ministry Coordinator, served as moderator.The forum saw a substantial turnout, which included local leaders such as Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown and Jefferson County Commissioner Gale Pohlmann.Among the topics the panel was asked about, were buying and selling a home, renting a home, renting with bad credit, interest rates, low-income housing and various types of emergency assistance.Conde said, “I was in the property management industry for many years and I was not aware of many of the programs that you talked about. I didn't know what was the emergency assistance program available.”A previous forum on health care was held in February of this year. The church has plans to hold another forum in the near future. The topic and date have not yet been announced.

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