COVINGTON, Ky. — Crews with Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (HONK) work to scrape off old paint and rehab homes. Among the HONK crew at one house is Walter Wright, rolling fresh new paint on to the walls.

“This whole basement was scraped. It was in really poor condition, so once we got the scraping done, we’re just giving it a coat of this heavy duty paint,” Wright said.

He’s volunteered for 10 years and the mission of the organization is to help with affordable housing. Volunteers like him help rehab homes for low-income families to move into. Wright said it’s something that could be of help to today’s economy.

“I don’t know what the housing market is going to do, but it’s not getting any easier for people, so I guess every little bit that can be done for them can be done,” he said.

In the office is David Hastings, who said the organization has recently seen an increase in people looking for help for housing and utility assistance.

“A lot of folks have an emergency need, all the way up to just can’t find a place to rent that they could afford. It’s been a drastic increase in the last six months to a year,” Hastings said.

Hastings said he knows being a first-time homebuyer can be tough right now, as mortgage rates have gone up because of the Federal Reserve looking to cool down inflation.

“Eventually it will plateau. Eventually housing costs will plateau. It can’t keep going the way it’s going or no one’s going to have a place. I don’t know when the end of that is yet,” he said.

Hastings said he will help point folks in the right direction or phone in another agency they work alongside to help if the organization can’t personally help. Wright said he’ll keep volunteering to continue to help.

“These people probably never have an opportunity to own a house and this program helps allow them to. I think it’s been largely successful,” Wright said.

More information on HONK can be found here.