For more than three decades, Seth Long has been a driving force behind affordable housing solutions in Eastern Kentucky, a region where the housing market faces unique challenges. As Executive Director of Housing Oriented Ministries Established for Service Inc. (HOMES Inc.), Long leads efforts to provide safe, efficient housing for families in need. 

Homes Inc. tackles these challenges through new construction, home repairs, solar installations, and rental opportunities. Since its inception, the organization has built hundreds of homes and championed sustainability with solar energy projects. But Long’s story goes beyond bricks and mortar to reflect faith and community.  

“God always has a plan,” reflected Long who moved to Letcher County from southeastern Pennsylvania in 1991. “My wife and I came as volunteers with Mennonite Central Committee’s home repair program. Before that, I worked on a custom homebuilding crew — everything from the footing to the finish. That work was incredibly meaningful to me.” 

What began as a summer of service turned into a lifelong mission. Over the years, they opened their hearts and home to 15 foster children, adopting three along the way.  

“And during that time, I remembered an experience from my youth when we went to Harlan County and helped install a family’s first-ever bathroom,” he said. “That one summer turned into 34 years.”  

Long explained that the housing landscape in Eastern Kentucky is unlike most of America. “We have a broken housing market,” he said. “We were doing good work, but it was one house at a time — one up a holler, one in another county. Even over 30 years, it didn’t move the needle. One way I help people from outside the region understand how broken the housing market is: We are the only housing developer in the county.” 

Homes often don’t appraise high enough to cover construction costs, making it impossible for for-profit builders to operate. HOMES Inc. built about 300 homes before 2022 by taking on the risk of buying raw property and building homes that families could afford. But the floods of 2022 changed everything. 

“Seventeen inches of rain fell on this mountain region. Nearly 20 counties were impacted. About 6,000 homes were ruined. Thousands of people were displaced — many never returned to their homes,” Long recounted. “We were already in a housing crisis when the flood hit. If it hadn’t been for early support from foundations, private donors, and partners, the weight of need could have crushed us.”  

He added, “For the first time in our history, we began production-style homebuilding, thanks to higher-ground developments built on reclaimed strip mines with proper infrastructure: roads, water, sewer, utilities, sidewalks — all engineered for long-term safety. That’s been a real shift for us.” 

The devastating flood of 2022 marked a turning point, bringing much-needed investment and urgency to housing efforts. Today, Long and his team continue to build in Appalachia. They don’t just build homes but hope and opportunity for Appalachian families.