West Kentucky Allied Services outlines $8 million in regional aid, pushes housing and living-wage programs

Dr. Upinder Mehan, CEO of West Kentucky Allied Services, told the Marshall County Fiscal Court on Oct. 21 that the agency manages roughly $8,000,000 in federal, state and local funds to support low-income residents across the Purchase region.

Mehan told the court the agency operates energy and rent assistance programs, including the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and said CSBG (Community Services Block Grant) funding is the defining source that enables local responses to urgent needs. "The main source of funding for every community action agency…is the Community Services Block Grant," Mehan said.

Mehan described program eligibility thresholds used by the agency: "for assistance that comes through the community services block grant, we primarily look at those folks who are at 150% of poverty," and he said heating programs sometimes reach up to 200% of the poverty level. He listed services for seniors, including the Senior Community Service Employment Program and Senior Medicare Patrol, and said the agency helps residents enroll in Connect, Kentucky's enrollment system for Medicaid, Medicare and qualified health plans.

On housing, Mehan said West Kentucky Allied is working with the Kentucky Housing Corporation to attain Community Housing Development Organization status and initially will focus on single-family affordable housing. He described a parallel living-wage pilot to subsidize the gap between current earnings and a local living-wage estimate so employed clients can become self-sufficient. "The whole idea is to make ourselves unnecessary," Mehan said.

Mehan also outlined weatherization work: the agency conducts energy audits and reported that utility bills can fall by as much as 50% after weatherization. He said the agency has weatherized almost 600 homes over the last 14 years, and that 10,000 households received utility assistance last fiscal year; more than 2,300 households received tornado-relief aid.

Court members asked about funding and the CHDO effort; Mehan said the CHDO designation is an existing program the agency is pursuing and that the agency has repeatedly presented legislative requests for increased housing funding in recent years. The presiding official noted West Kentucky Allied maintains a local office at the Marshall County courthouse for residents seeking assistance during courthouse hours.

Next steps: Mehan encouraged partnerships with local governments, banks and nonprofits and said the agency will pursue grant and legislative support as it launches housing and living-wage efforts.