People of Housing Security:
Bobbie Ames

With a deep-rooted love for numbers, Bobbie Ames made a decision to study accounting while she attended Oakland City University. During that time in her life, she was certain she would go into the private business sector. However, Bobbie’s professional aspirations took an unexpected turn toward the nonprofit sector. 

Following graduation, one of Bobbie’s professors recommended that she apply for an open position as the Finance Director at Bedford Housing Authority (BHA) in Lawrence County. Working in finance for a nonprofit organization was different from the type of business career Bobbie had envisioned for herself in college. “We aren’t here to make money. We’re here to help people,” Bobbie explained. 

After being the Finance Director for nearly 20 years, Bobbie desired to expand her career. When the opportunity came, she applied to become the Executive Director. Bobbie has served as BHA’s Executive Director for the past five years. She doesn’t see herself leaving anytime soon. “I’m very loyal with everything I do…I’m here to stay,” Bobbie said. 

Bobbie oversees staff, tracks financials, establishes policies, and works with a board of commissioners. As an example of the work she’s done with policies, Bobbie explained how she recently had to update BHA policies to bring them up to standards with changes in Section 8 policies made by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Within the past five years Bobbie has brought BHA from a substandard to high-performing housing authority. “I’ve always been very proud of that,” Bobbie said.

Bobbie reflected that the staff at BHA have been instrumental in assisting tenants with wide-ranging needs. While working with BHA staff, Bobbie has seen the invaluable power of collaboration. “When you’re small like us, we all help each other out,” she said. She also credits part of BHA’s success to the landlords in the community. “We have good relationships with property owners here,” Bobbie explained. Often, property owners will call BHA when they have availability in their units and ask if they have people looking for housing. 

One of the more difficult parts of Bobbie’s role is leading hearings for people who have been denied public housing. Learning how to make tough decisions has been an adjustment for Bobbie. “With numbers you are either right or wrong, but humans are more complex,” Bobbie said. In her role, Bobbie tries her best to listen to people’s stories and make a decision best fit for them. “I believe in giving people chances,” Bobbie shared.

Bobbie explained that it can be hard to balance work and her personal life. One of her favorite ways to take care of her mental health is by being active and “burning off the stress.” Bobbie leads different classes at Fit Chicks, a gym she and three of her friends own in Bedford. The classes she leads include a medicine ball class and hip-hop style class. Bobbie also enjoys dancing and weightlifting. Aside from staying active, Bobbie enjoys getting to travel with her husband Jeff, especially to warm destinations, and spending time with her two sons and three grandchildren. 

Heading Home is grateful to co-chair the Lawrence County Housing Task Force alongside Bobbie. The efforts of the task force are guided by a housing needs study that Heading Home commissioned. Bobbie has been instrumental in fostering cross-agency collaborations to strengthen housing security.

Note: This series highlights the work of those committed to improving the lives of residents in South Central Indiana. Find all the articles in this series here.