Corbin hosts 36th annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference

Apr. 30—CORBIN — The East Kentucky Leadership Foundation held their 36th annual conference in downtown Corbin on Thursday and Friday last week.

Various buildings were used to host the event on Main Street in Corbin, including the Pennington.

The conference was held to discuss various topics and issues that are relevant to the future growth of Eastern Kentucky.

Homelessness

Homelessness was a topic of much discussion throughout the event.

Due to a multitude of factors, including addition and rising home prices, homelessness is on the rise in Eastern Kentucky.

The issue of homelessness is complicated, both in terms of why people become homeless and how local governments can help to resolve the issue.

On Thursday, a youth panel consisting of multiple Corbin High School media students who researched the topic discussed homelessness.

The youth panel primarily focused their discussion on the foster care system and how it could perhaps be changed to better prevent "aging out" of the system.

If a person reaches the age of 18 and is still in the foster care system, then they are no longer eligible to be housed, leaving them to fend for themselves.

The students on the panel noted that this often resulted in teenagers being forced unto the streets with seemingly nowhere, or no one, to turn to.

Via a Zoom call, the Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission Gayle Manchin joined the discussion.

Manchin thanked the students for their work in researching the issue, and highlighted the fact that it will take young people such as themselves to help resolve the issue.

Manchin asked the students to dwell on what policy changes they would support in order to help those who age out of the foster care system.

One student, Addison Bonham, said that she would support raising the age of when a person is no longer eligible for foster care and that she would also support programs which provided financial, or other aid, to people in this situation.

On Friday, an additional panel was held on homelessness in the Central Baptist Church building.

This panel discussed the issue of homelessness in the Appalachian region, the causes thereof, and possible solutions.

Shawn Bingham, a panelist and member of the KCEOC Community Action Partnership, operates as the KCEOC Shelter Director.

Bingham noted that, after many years of working closely with the homeless, one begins to notice patterns as to why persons lose access to housing.

In the region, drug addiction, lack of economic opportunity, and other factors all contribute to the issue.

The panel as a whole stressed that community partnerships, such as working KCEOC, are vital to combating homelessness.

By creating an interwoven system of support, along with advocating for persons on an individual basis, Bingham believes that the Appalachian region can reduce the number of homeless people and also provide them with a higher standard of living the previously thought possible.

The Corbin Story

To discuss the growth of Corbin in the last several years, several community figures were invited unto the stage to present their personal experience with Corbin.

Panelists included Mayor Suzie Razmus, Tourism Board Member Summer Jackson, Artist Kellene Turner, President of the Mountain Association Peter Hille, Artist Bob Martin, Artist Nicole Garneau, and Entrepreneur Andy Salmons.

The panelists each told a story from their lives that demonstrated the impact that the community of Corbin had on them.

Jackson and Salmons told the story of the days leading up the opening of the Wrigley in Corbin and how the community came to together to expedite the restaurant's launch.

Salmons recalled that the lack of chairs was one obstacle until Jackson and others took it upon themselves to acquire antique chairs for the restaurant with the intention of bringing opening day to fruition sooner.

Ultimately, their plan paid off, and the restaurant was finally able to open.

Salmons noted, "We had a line out the door that first day...I was so proud of what everyone had done to make it happen."

The audience also got a chance to participate during this discussion.

Each person was asked to recall a story of their own about the community and write down the main takeaway from said story unto a star which would later be adhered to the wall.

AirBnBs

A panel was also held for a discussion on AirBnBs place in local communities.

AirBnB is an app which allows property owners to rent their properties directly to guests/tourists.

For example, a homeowner could rent their home to a tourist for a week while they themselves are on vacation, allowing them to pay for their own vacation.

The app has become increasingly popular in recent years, as many hosts on the app tailor their properties to specific interests or wants of prospective guests.

However, the influx of users on the app brings about questions for local, traditional lodging.

If the AirBnbs takeaway guests from already established places, then those lodging outlets may fall to the wayside.

In local communities such as Corbin, this could have potential negative consequences. For instance, City Council and the Whitley County Fiscal Court have poured a tremendous amount of resources into building a new hotel adjacent to the Corbin Center.

But if AirBnB continues to grow, the initial outlook for the success of hotels such as this may change.

There has also been some discussion in various local government meetings about the complications AirBnBs bring to zoning policies, as it would technically be both lodging and a residence but may reside in a zone only fit for one or the other.

On the other hand, AirBnBs can also be a great source of tourism for local communities.

Jessa Turner, a panelist and representing HomeGrown Hideaways of Berea, is a highly-rated AirBnB host and is the Community Leader of AirBnB for the state of Kentucky.

Turner noted that the relationship of AirBnBs and local businesses does not necessarily have to be adversarial. In fact, Turner thinks that there is much opportunity in inviting new tourists and reaching larger audiences with the variety that AirBnBs can offer.

She used her own business HomeGrown HideAways, as an example. Homegrown HideAways is located on a farm in Berea that offers both AirBnB lodging and event services like weddings.

Though the business does provide traditional lodging, it still draws in people who are looking to "unplug." With only traditional lodging, these people may not have visited Berea at all nor are they necessarily taking away from the guest list of established hotels due to their specific wants.

Other panels covered during the conference included the role of elected officials, flood recovery, comeback communities and more.