In an effort to expand its reach and raise awareness about its mission, the Homeless & Housing Coalition of South Central Kentucky will kick off a series of community conversations Tuesday with a meeting focused on workforce issues.

The hour-long meeting, to be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, will include a presentation from Robert Boone, president and CEO of the South Central Workforce Development Board.

“He (Boone) will lead a conversation on how we can better work together on housing and workforce issues,” said Rod Goodman, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Bowling Green and Warren County, and a member of the coalition.

It’s a natural fit, Goodman says, for a region that is faced with the task of filling what the JobsEQ labor market data company estimates are 6,000 job openings.

“Local industry has a hard time filling all the positions in the community,” said Goodman. “If affordable housing is available, maybe it would help fill those openings. If folks are going to live here and fill these jobs, we need affordable places for them to live.”

Boone, who has been leading the workforce board since August, welcomes the partnership with the coalition.

“It’s important to engage in this discussion,” he said. “Certainly, homelessness and lack of transportation are two difficult barriers to overcome. We hope to engage in discussions with the coalition and solidify our board’s role in meeting these needs.”

Boone calls housing and transportation “two of the largest barriers to finding a job and getting out of severe poverty.”

“It’s not just homelessness,” he said. “How to get to and from work is an issue for many people. Some places in our 10-county region have more affordable housing, but how do you live in one county and work in another without transportation?”

Boone said Tuesday’s meeting can be the start of a dialogue with other agencies that deal with workforce-related issues.

“The workforce board can’t do all these things on our own,” he said. “It needs to be a team effort.”

Goodman sees the meeting as an initial step toward a goal of raising awareness about the Homeless & Housing Coalition.

“We hope to bring more people into the conversation,” he said. “Our coalition meetings are normally a group of nonprofits getting together. We hope to bring in people from industry and the private sector and converse about these issues from all sides.”

The coalition’s other three community conversations this year are scheduled for April 10, Aug. 14 and Nov. 23. HOTEL INC Director Rhondell Miller is scheduled to speak at the April meeting.