COM M U N I T Y
BY: CHIP MINTY
Affordable Solution
New Apartments Being Built for Moore’s Low-Income Families
E
ver since the F-5 tornado tore through, killing 25 people and causing billions of dollars in damage nearly seven years ago, the Moore community has been putting itself back together in glorious fashion. New homes, new businesses, new schools, a new hospital and much more have allowed the city to bounce back better than before. Later this year, the community will add another important piece that has been largely overlooked through the recovery process. A large apartment complex with nearly 250 units will open on Moore’s west side, providing affordable housing to replace low-cost homes that were lost. The storm flattened nearly 100 duplexes, more than 50 mobile homes and a few small houses, leaving hundreds of Moore’s elderly, handicapped and low-income families with no place to live, said Kahley Gilbert, project grants manager for the City of Moore. Following the storm, Moore had very little affordable housing left, forcing people to relocate to Oklahoma City or to Norman, she said. Affordable housing is essential for low income families, people who are elderly
28 | February 2020
or people who are disabled, experts say. The lack of affordable housing is also attributed to homelessness. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition says the nation needs more than seven million more affordable housing unites to fill the needs of the country’s population of extremely low-income families. The organization points out that affordable housing is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing childhood poverty and increasing economic mobility in the United States. Based on the need for affordable housing in Moore, Gilbert said the new apartments are not likely to be empty for long. “There is a huge demand,” she said. “We get calls on this daily, and we anticipate this filling up very quickly. We’re excited about it.” Gilbert said the apartment complex will be called The Curve, and it is being built on about 14 acres of land where the duplexes and the trailer park were located. The structure will be two to three stories tall with parking in the back of the building. Belmont Development of
