BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Daisy Slone was 16 when she moved into the old house on land that her family lived on for over 100 years on Moore Branch in Inez. It was her home until a flash flood swept through the property in 2022, tearing up the century-old structure and leaving Slone to sleep on her daughter’s sofa. Now, however, thanks to a group of generous donors, funders and volunteers, the 74-year-old Slone has a brand-new home on the same site as the former.
On April 16, Slone celebrated the completion of her new home build with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Tom Manning-Beavin, CEO of Frontier Housing, the organization that led the project, welcomed attendees who included donor representatives, Slone’s family and friends, and Martin County and Inez City officials.
Manning-Beavin expressed gratitude to contributors to the project, crediting the role of Fahe’s “Housing Can’t Wait” campaign.
“Fahe helped us connect to a bunch of funders that were able to pull money together to make this happen,” he said.
Fahe is a Berea-based network of 50-plus community-based nonprofits serving Appalachia. Key contributors to Slone’s project include the Public Protection Cabinet, the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky in Hazard, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, and the People’s Bank of Salyersville.
“We had some money from the Community Development Financial Institution Fund in the Department of Treasury, what’s called the Equitable Recovery Program,” added Manning-Beavin. “We were able to use that money to fund this. We pulled those five sources together and were able to make this happen.”
Manning-Beavin also pointed to the home’s energy efficiency.
“We expect this house will cost less than $100 a month to operate, all-electric,” he said before introducing Slone.
Standing on her new front porch, Slone declared, “I am the proud owner of this new home. It is amazing.”
She thanked everyone involved in the project.
“Everyone was wonderful and did a wonderful job,” said Slone.
The build project, which started five months ago, was emotionally charged for Slone.
“There have been a lot of tears in the last five months,” she said. “Tears of sadness when I watched my old house being torn down and tears of joy when I saw them bring a new one up.”
Sadly, Slone shared that her sister, who had anticipated the home’s completion, passed away recently.
Before cutting the ceremonial ribbon, Slone remarked, “It’s been an amazing experience.”
On Thursday, Gov. Andy Beshear gave Slone a shoutout on his X (formerly Twitter) account: “The Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund is building homes and rebuilding lives. Daisy Slone’s family roots go back 100 years in Inez. Thanks to donations to the fund, she’s now celebrating a new, safe and energy-efficient home in the community she loves. Welcome home, Daisy!”
