History
Highlands Residential Services, formerly Cookeville Housing Authority, was established on October 29, 1952, and construction began on our first low-income housing development, Perry Morgan Homes, in 1957. Currently, we operate 607 units, including 497 Public Housing units, 30 Low Income Housing Tax Credit units, and 80 Project-Based Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) units for the elderly and the disabled.
While our core mission has always been to help area residents and families find homes, we have grown in our more than 60 years to offer a much wider variety of community-building services, including job and skills training classes for adults, home-buyer classes in partnership with various local banks, special events for children and adolescents, mentoring programs for elderly and disabled residents, block parties, a host of recreational and social activities, and much more.
And while we originally served only Cookeville, today we support and strengthen the residents of Algood, Baxter, Celina, Gainesboro and Monterey, which means that our reach extends across the Tennessee Highlands region.
To reflect our growing outreach and service area, we have recently changed our name to Highlands Residential Services (HRS).
“At Highlands Residential Services, we are more than housing. We are building on community to make our neighborhoods, towns and our region stronger, and our new name and image reflect that,” said C. Dow Harris, Highlands Residential Services executive director.
Our new name and look denote not only our commitment to maintaining the foundation we have already laid, but also to building on that foundation. In recent months, HRS staff members have spent time talking to hundreds of residents to learn how to better help our neighborhoods reach their full potential, and we have commissioned surveys of residents and the local public to determine potential areas of improvement for our image and services.
“The residents in each of the towns we occupy deserve the highest level of commitment and treatment we can offer, and we’re dedicated to continuing that,” said Highlands Residential Services Board Chair Janey Dudney. “We operate throughout the Highlands, and we are proud of all of our communities.”
Board of Commissioners
Highlands Residential Services is comprised of a seven-member board of commissioners. The board meets regularly to establish policies, approve expenditures and provide guidance to the agency.
Staff
Highlands Residential Services currently employs 23 people, including managers, coordinators and maintenance. HRS utilizes one part-time year round AmeriCorps member and two summer AmeriCorps members.
