KNOTT COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — This holiday season might feel different for families in eastern Kentucky.
They might be in temporary housing with no place to put a Christmas tree. Thanks to some volunteers, they might have a place for that tree in time for Christmas.
"I don't know where I'm going to live, that's what the thing we kept hearing from them is I don't know where I'm going to go." said Bobby Meade, who helped to organize a group of volunteers. "We met people living in tents."
Meade spent part of his life living in Letcher and Knott counties. He's familiar with eastern Kentucky.
Now he's trying to help people with their most important need. The nights are getting colder. It's the holiday season, where putting up a tree gives families a reason to smile. So far, Meade and other volunteers have built six small houses in Knott County.
"Even if it's a little small, it's probably a permanent situation actually," he said.
These houses are big enough for a family of two, three, or four people. It was summer's wish, a place to live, but now it becomes winter's necessity.
"It's safe, secure, warm, and dry now," Meade said.
He says they're putting on the finishing touches, such as plumbing.
"Don't forget that these people there are still a lot of people that are staying in temporary, and it's very temporary, housing," he said.
