Affordable Housing Community Underway in Gulfport
Thanks in part to a $500,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant, construction has begun on an Affordable Housing community in Gulfport, Mississippi. This will be a redevelopment of North Park Estates and will provide for 80 homes to families that are either at or below 60 percent average median income.
Hurricanes have devastated home in this area in recent years. As such, this project, and others like it, comes as great news to a large number of people.
Peoples Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) are behind the funding of the generous grant. Gulf Coast Housing Partnership (GCHP) received the grant and will head up the construction efforts.
“We are so thankful for The Peoples Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas for their generosity,” said Kathy Laborde, president and CEO at GCHP.
“The Affordable Housing Program funds allow GCHP to continue our mission of providing quality affordable housing to residents along the Gulf Coast.”
The new homes will replace of 92 of 160 homes previously built in North Park Estates back in 1959. Since that time, the homes in the community have fallen into disrepair. Only 31 of the 92 being demolished in this rebuild were even habitable.
When the community was created in ’59 is was called the L.C. Jones public housing complex.
This first phase of a rebuild of the community is expected to have homes completed by the summer.
Last year a total of $17 million was awarded to affordable housing projects across the country by FHLB Dallas. Those with incomes in the bottom 20% in an area can get help with purchasing or rehabilitating a home.
Communities in Mississippi are receiving $4.6 million of that total. With that money, the state expects to see some 466 affordable homes built for families.
The Affordable Housing Program started 30 years ago. In that time, it has been responsible for helping over 53,000 families get into a home. This, thanks to over $300 million in funding.
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