Housing

Ms. Kidd discusses her life, including her childhood growing up in Bourbon County. Kidd attended the Lincoln Institute in Simpsonville, Kentucky, and then began working for Mammoth Life Insurance Company, Louisville-based black-owned life insurance company. She discusses her career with Mammoth Life, which was interupted by service in the Red Cross during World War II. She discusses her experiences with the Red Cross, both during her training and during her service overseas. She discusses differences in white attitudes, in particular. She describes her work in pubilc relations and sales after the war, as well as her political career. She was elected to the Kentucky Assembly in 1967 and began serving in 1968. She discusses her attempts to pass legislation to give tax breaks to companies that would provide training to Kentucky residents, and her successful efforts to pass a low-cost housing bill.

Ron Lewis is a musician who lives in the Shivley neighborhood. He discusses the neighborhood’s transition from a majority white area, where African American were not welcome, to a largely African American community.

Mr. Mansilla talks about housing in relation to immigrants and refugees in Louisville. At the time of the interview he was Executive Director of the Americana Community Center.

Tristam Martin, known as TJ, is a housing case manager lead at St. John Center for the Permanent Supportive Housing Program. He describes his educational and work background working with children with behavioral issues, as well as how he came to work at St. John center. TJ describes the Permanent Supportive Housing Program concerning who is elligible, the process for entering housing, and services for those in the program. He describes his role as a case manager and the typical work he does and what makes a good anad bad case manager in his opinion. TJ also shares his perspective on gaps in services for the homeless in Louisville, as well as what success for the program and individuals within it looks like.

William "Bill" McLemore was born in Louisville and was one of three kids. His first job was at a bank, then he worked as a draftsman and owned his own company. During this time his father became sick and he stopped working to care for him. A series of events including a bad business deal led to homelessness. He stayed at Wayside before opting instead to camp in a secluded area near downtown. Eventually he was offered housing through the St. John Permanent Supportive Housing Program and earned a score on the vulnerability assessment that got him into housing quickly. Bill discusses his experience with the Permanent Supportive Housing Program, homeless shelters, camping out, encounters with police, violence, as well as his personal spirituality.

Michael Meeks grew up in the Parkland neighborhood in a Virginia Avenue house that his family still owns. Meeks discussed how the 1968 Parkland Riot changed the neighborhood as well as the connection between housing and policing in a community.

Miller-Cooper talks about housing in relation to her work at the Human Relations Commission.

During Louisville's tumultuous period of school desegregation in the 1970s, Minnis was one of the leaders tapped to ease the transition to an integrated system. For 40 years, minus his stints in Frankfort and Charleston, he served Jefferson County Public Schools, rising to assistant superintendent for diversity, equity and poverty programs. In this interview he talks about the connections between housing and school policy.

Otis Skaggs, a participant in the St. John Center Permanent Supportive Housing Program, was born in Louisville, Kentucky but lived in Larue County. He recounts his life and experiences after dropping out of Western Kentucky University and becoming "a hippie." He recalls hitchiking, and periods of working various jobs including in ski towns in Colorado. He later moved back to Kentucky working for at an Accutec factory while sleeping outside. In an accident Otis was hit by a car and had to stay in a nursing home to recover. During this time he says he realized he no longer wanted to stay outside and called Sarah Buckler (who now works for St. John Center) who had previously offered to help him get into housing. From there, he moved into an apartment, and relays several moves and changes in case manager he has had. Throughout the interview Otis emphasizes his spirituality which he describes as "Christian Buddhist," while also discussing his experiences living outside, and periods of intermittent work and hitchiking.