Under new leadership, Louisville Metro Housing Authority using city funding to remedy issues at Dosker Manor

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The new leadership at Louisville Metro Housing Authority is tasked with solving a huge problem — how to keep Dosker Manor safe.

Louisville Metro Council once called LMHA the city's worst slum lord. Numerous issues like unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, violence and crime and lack of maintenance have plagued many of the city's housing complexes like Dosker Manor for years.

Keith Gregory, new LMHA Deputy Director, started last month, and has the difficult task to figure out how to best use the $238,000 expected from the mayor’s budget. Of that, $138,000 will be going to social services and repairs.

“What this money is geared for is immediate remediation efforts things like pest control, improving rodent control, getting some immediate help for the residents that live there right now," said Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg in a recent interview with WDRB.

Federal funding that supports LMHA doesn't provide for social services, so the money from the city's budget will help fill that gap.

Living at Dosker Manor is not pleasant as music blares through the open space. The hallways are dirty, and litter is just about everywhere you look. Once inside the front door, your olfactory senses are assaulted by decades of filth.

“The facilities are challenged of course and that is not abnormal I mean housing authorities across the country are dealing with under funding from the federal government,” Gregory said.

LMHA's $35 million operating budget comes from the federal government and rental income. In January 2024, after numerous complaints and building code violations, Metro Council called for an investigation of LMHA's training, funding and fiscal management.

“So we are made aware of every code violation obviously that comes up and we do everything we can to make sure to make sure everything is addressed. Obviously life and safety get addressed first but we do keep a running list,” said Gregory.

The buildings in the Dosker Manor complex have been plagued with maggots, mold, bed bugs and mice for years.

“I know it doesn't sound like a lot of money but in this industry for a housing authority to receive money from Metro Council for a city council is almost unheard of,” Gregory said.

Until this current budget, LMHA never asked Metro Council for money to make repairs or fund projects.