BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Carpentry students at Northern Kentucky Technical College are working to build two affordable homes on the East Side, one of the city's most economically depressed neighborhoods.
The students are working with Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (HONK), a small non-profit organization that searches for good tenants with marginal incomes but who have trouble becoming homeowners. HONK helps build and rehab houses, and provides assistance to families purchasing homes.
HONK also rents to families, counsels them and ultimately sells homes to them.
Most of all, HONK is helping to increase home ownership. HONK has helped build or rehab more than three dozen structures in Northern Kentucky during its 6 1/2-year existence, many of which are on the East Side.
"We've seen it change people's lives where they have more pride and where they're happier," said Jack Goeke, executive director of HONK.
Charles Patton, a carpentry teacher at the technical college, guided students Thursday as they drilled, sawed and took measurements on the structure of one of the two single-family homes under construction. "It's a little hard working for free, but I guess you got to live with it," said student Mike Fausz, 18, of Alexandria.
"This is the best teaching -- hands-on training is the best I can do with them," said Mr. Patton, a teacher at the Park Hills college for nearly 27 years.
About the only things the students don't do are painting and plumbing work.
The two homes are expected to be ready in June 1999, Mr. Patton said. Buyers will be required to help with construction on their homes or others.
The city helped HONK acquire three of the four lots on which the $75,000 to $80,000 homes are being constructed. The city also provided the group with construction money. HONK will repay the city in two to three years.
"(HONK) is extremely valuable in that there's not a whole lot of organizations that provide direct housing assistance to tenants to become home owners," said Covington Housing Director Howard Hodge.
