Adjusting often takes time, and officials with the Elizabethton Housing and Development Agency (EHDA) were able to prepare over the span of 18 months for a new rule that is in effect.
Mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing agencies across the country are now under a smoke-free policy, discouraging the use of tobacco products, i.e. cigarettes, cigars and pipes, inside housing and near fixtures.
EHDA’s smoke-free policy went into effect Jan. 1, months before the July deadline. The local policy allows EHDA residents to smoke but 25 feet away from agency properties, including homes, administrative buildings, playgrounds and walking trails.
Over the course of HUD’s announcement, first reported in fall 2016, EHDA Executive Director Kelly Geagley said the agency has spent time working to engage residents and let individuals know about the changes with different community meetings.
“We tried to meet in the mornings, afternoon and evening hours with residents. We really didn’t have a great deal of attendance, but we did have people at each meeting,” Geagley told the Elizabethton Star. “I just want to make sure the residents are educated on this and I hope that it is being advertised enough that everyone knows about it.”
While recent meetings netted some interested attendees, Geagley added that individual talks with residents, and others taking part in events, netted successful feedback in spreading awareness of the change.
According to the HUD website, no individuals in housing has the “right” to smoke in a rental home and no one is protected subclass under anti-discrimination laws. Information provided by HUD added that nobody will be “grandfathered-in” under a policy and that if a resident was to violate the policy, they would be subject to lease termination.
Geagley added that since the EHDA’s policy went into effect, two residents have put in their notices of leaving — citing the policy. The executive director added he will be meeting with the residents this week.
But while the smoke-free policy is in effect, Geagley added he’s been able to work alongside the Carter County Health Department to provide free smoke cessation classes for residents looking to stop using tobacco products.
“The health department has been great to work with,” Geagley said in a recent interview. “They’ve met with our residents and we’ve had positive feedback so far. We’ve already had some pick up material.”
EHDA residents wanting to take part in the classes can contact Brittany Shoun with the department at (423) 543-3571 ext. 308.