Kentucky River Foothills Development Council Inc

Employment & econ development programs- krfdc's transportation program, foothills express, gives riders the opportunity to live independently and participate fully in their communities. Riders can depend on courteous drivers and safe, efficient transportation to school, work, senior citizen centers, adult and child care centers, medical facilities, and recreational destinations. In addition, foothills express provides social organizations, volunteer groups, and businesses with special transportation for occasions when bus transportation is more efficient. Foothills express operates a public deviated-fixed transportation route in berea, richmond, and winchester. These stops include stores, apartment communities, city and county offices, and businesses. Wheelchair assisted door-to-door service is available for no additional cost and bulk passes are available at a discounted rate. The madison connector route operates through the week and links the cities of berea and richmond. After reaching their destination in either berea or richmond, riders are able to catch a ride on the city transit routes. Foothills express also provides a commuter service from winchester and richmond to different locations in the lexington area to assist employees in getting to their workplaces. Continuing to build on the long-standing partnership between eastern kentucky university and krfdc, foothills express is the provider for campus transit services. Last fy transportation provided 101,719 trips.

Housing service progrms-at liberty place recovery center for women, the agency provides a long-term, residential substance abuse recovery program for women. In this safe place, krfdc helps women suffering from alcoholism and/or drug addiction become sober, solve underlying problems, and learn to lead sober, stable, and productive lives. While in the program, participants are provided with the tools they need to manage their disease and rebuild their lives. These tools include the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous, daily recovery dynamics and errors in thinking classes, meditation, peer support, job responsibilities, and meetings. Located in richmond, liberty place is part of the recovery kentucky initiative. The women participating in the program are homeless or marginally housed and unemployed, often coming directly from court or jail. The center, a supportive housing development, has 108 beds to accommodate the needs of women in kentucky's 6th congressional district. Last fy krfdc served 202 participants at liberty place. The agency's affordable housing program assists low and moderate-income households through homebuyer education classes and one-on-one homeownership counseling to purchase homes. Krfdc uses grant funds to provide assistance and the family secures a very low interest loan to cover the remaining cost. Persons living at or below a certain percentage of the median income, including homeless persons who are graduates of krfdc's supportive housing program are eligible to apply for the program. Homeownership counseling is a free service offered in estill and powell counties. This service is provided for first time homebuyers with low to moderate incomes and educates participants in every aspect of the home buying process. For families who own their homes, but need help maintaining them, krfdc offers a variety of rehabilitation services which reduce a family's heating and cooling costs while increasing their comfort. And for those families who have no home at all, krfdc offers rental assistance programs such as supportive housing, transitional housing and emergency rental assistance. To help families achieve or regain stability, staff provide counseling, budgeting, and crisis assistance according to the clients' needs. The agency manages a limited number of agency-owned rental units in estill, madison, and powell counties.

Other miscellaneous programs include client assistance, fema funds, and facility operations.