News Release

August 27, 2010

Contact: Doug Robinson, 202-220-2360, drobinson@nw.org
Erin Angell Collins, 202-220-6317, ecollins@nw.org
Hillary Wiley, 404-526-1272, hrowe@nw.org

NeighborWorks America Continues Commitment to Gulf Coast Region
Invests $3 Million in the Region in 2010

Washington, D.C. – Today NeighborWorks America reaffirmed its dedication to the Gulf Coast five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region and its residents by announcing that it will invest $3 million in the region by the end of 2010 for a total direct investment of $22.7 million.

Modeled upon NeighborWorks America’s 32-year history of supporting community-based partnerships, NeighborWorks’ rebuilding initiative supports the foundations of neighborhood rebuilding – the families, organizations, and homes that make up these neighborhoods.

“NeighborWorks remains committed to rebuilding the communities of the Gulf Coast, and will continue to work effectively with our local and regional partners to rehabilitate and develop affordable housing, deliver financial education and homeownership counseling, and provide technical assistance and support for the nonprofit community. With the help of our partners, we will continue to empower affected families and help to build a better future for generations to come,” said Ken Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America.

Since 2006, NeighborWorks America has invested $22.7 million in resources in the Gulf to support an array of rebuilding efforts, including:

• The construction or rehabilitation of 3,718 for-sale and multifamily affordable housing units, 250 of which incorporate green building techniques;
• Financial and homeownership education for 26,030 Gulf Coast residents; and,
• Support, technical assistance, and training for local nonprofit affordable housing and community development organizations throughout the region. 

Rebuild Affordable Housing

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the need for quality affordable housing was unprecedented. NeighborWorks America was able to respond to the overwhelming need by supporting local partners who were rehabilitating and constructing affordable for-sale and multifamily housing units.

As part of its $22.7 million commitment to the Gulf Coast, NeighborWorks America provided operating/development grants to support each partner organization in an effort to provide affordable housing that would enable residents to return home after the hurricane. To date, NeighborWorks America has supported the construction and rehabilitation of more than 3,700 affordable housing units in the Gulf.

In New Orleans, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, a local NeighborWorks organization, has historically developed affordable homes for first-time homebuyers in the Milan, Freret, and Holy Ghost neighborhoods in Central City.  Since Hurricane Katrina, NHS of New Orleans added the Seventh Ward to its focus and since 2006 has purchased a vacant lot and corner store, and developed the Seventh Ward Neighborhood Center.  NHS has also acquired 40 properties in the area that will be developed as single family homes for first-time homebuyers.

Also in New Orleans, NHP Foundation was one of the first owners of multi-family units to re-open and maintain rents at affordable pre-Katrina levels. NHP also completed construction of the first new multifamily apartment building complex in New Orleans East (Walnut Square) after Katrina, which consisted of 209 units of affordable housing. NHP also has developed units in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Other partners supported by NeighborWorks America in the New Orleans area that have completed affordable housing units include Providence Community Housing, Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative (NONDC).

In Mississippi, Hope Community Development Agency (Hope CDA), based in East Biloxi, responded to the need for affordable housing by developing affordable for-sale single family homes, and the rehabilitating homes for existing homeowners. With NeighborWorks America support, Hope CDA has completed 174 homes since 2006 and has another 20 in progress.

In the rural area of New Iberia, Louisiana, Southern Mutual Help Association, a local NeighborWorks organization, also focused on developing single family homeownership units and owner occupied rehabilitations.  NeighborWorks America has helped to support 177 units of affordable housing since 2006.  Southern Mutual also provides lending services to clients as a CDFI.

Finally, NeighborWorks America continues to support green building in the Gulf through grants made to the Gulf Coast Housing Partnership (GCHP) and Rebuilding Together.  GHCP has constructed five single family homes and will be constructing 18 apartments as a part of the Global Green development.  Rebuilding Together has rehabilitated 250 homes in the Gulf using green building techniques that make the homes more energy, resource, and water efficient, improving the quality of the homes’ indoor environment.

Financial and Homeownership Education

Through local NeighborWorks organization Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans and partnerships with national organizations like Make It Right, also in New Orleans, NeighborWorks America has helped to support prospective homeowners with financial education and homeownership counseling that will help ensure each homeowner achieves sustainable homeownership.

“Financial and homeownership education helps potential homebuyers make sound financial decisions that lead to long-term homeownership. In order for a community to succeed, its residents must have a strong stake in the community,” said Don Phoenix, director, NeighborWorks America’s Southern District Office. 

Through NHS’ HomeOwnership Center, NHS counselors provide financial education, pre-purchase homeownership education, and financial services for New Orleans residents who are ready to become homeowners. 

Through its partnership with Make It Right, NeighborWorks America staff members have helped 37 Make It Right homeowners close on their new Make It Right green homes in the Lower Ninth Ward since 2008, and another 92 are on their way.  NeighborWorks America works closely with each applicant who applies to become a Make It Right homeowner by assessing their financial needs, providing guidance on job training and employment, expanding their knowledge about homeownership and maintenance, and counseling to help them become leaders in the neighborhood which will create a sustainable community. 

Local Nonprofit Support

NeighborWorks America, the nation’s leading trainer of community development and affordable housing practitioners, has brought thousands of community development practitioners, policymakers, developers, and industry experts to New Orleans through two week-long NeighborWorks Training Institutes, one Community Leadership Institute, and several place-based trainings. More than 1,900 scholarships have been awarded to individuals from Gulf Coast nonprofit housing organizations so that they can remain at the forefront of the community development field and bring fresh ideas and models of success back to their communities.

In December 2006, NeighborWorks America expanded its presence in the Gulf and opened its New Orleans Office, which works with local, regional and national partners to help rebuild homes, develop new affordable housing and strengthen Gulf Coast communities. The New Orleans Office serves as the home base for the coordination of NeighborWorks rebuilding efforts in the region.Since opening, the office has facilitated partnerships with more than 35 Gulf Coast organizations, has contributed to the construction or rehabilitation of more than 3,718 housing units, and is responsible for more than $490 million in new investment coming into the region.

In addition to training opportunities and scholarships, NeighborWorks America has provided $22.7 million in grant and in-kind support to NeighborWorks network members Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans, Southern Mutual Help Association and many other nonprofit organizations across the Gulf Coast region since the 2005 hurricanes to help build the capacity of the organizations. 

This year alone, NeighborWorks America is investing an additional $3 million in the region, including $225,000 in grants to four Gulf area organizations who are providing assistance to constituents impacted by the BP oil spill.

James Ross, Gulf Rebuilding manager at NeighborWorks, works closely with Gulf partners has seen first-hand the impact of this latest crisis. “Folks here are blindsided by this disaster – they don’t know how to support their families or pay their mortgages now that their businesses have been shuttered and their way of life has been threatened. Funding from NeighborWorks gives partners much-needed flexibility to address issues resulting from the oil spill.”

NeighborWorks America, a leader in affordable housing and community development, has had a long-standing presence in the Gulf Coast region and remains steadfast in its commitment to the region.

About NeighborWorks America

NeighborWorks America creates opportunities for people to improve their lives and strengthen their communities by providing access to homeownership and to safe and affordable rental housing. Since 1991, we have assisted nearly 1.2 million low- to moderate-income families with their housing needs. Much of our success is achieved through our support of the NeighborWorks network ― more than 235 community development organizations working in more than 4,400 urban, suburban and rural communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In the last five years, NeighborWorks organizations have generated more than $15 billion in reinvestment in these communities. NeighborWorks America is the nation’s leading trainer of community development and affordable housing professionals.