2000 Best Practice Awards

366 Small Towns Environment Program (STEP)

The West Holmes area is a rural farming community located in the Mississippi Delta Region. The West Holmes County Water Association has critical infrastructure needs which will be extremely expensive and will require a grant from Rural Development. The STEP Program is a self-help program for local water and wasterwater systems that requires communities draw first from their own resources - volunteers providing labor, materials, equipment, and financial - and rely on grant money to meet remaining needs. Ninety-five percent of the residents of this community are low to moderate income, many of them elderly. To even entertain applying for grant assistance from Rural Development, the water system had to be metered and a water main relocated under a highway and railroad. With no funds on hand to complete such a project, the Association turned to the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development which administers a self-help water/wastewater program known as the Mississippi Small Town Environment Program (STEP). At application, the community showed a 54% cost savings by performing the work themselves versus using traditional methods, and were eligible for a STEP grant which utilizes recaptured CDBG funds. Residents volunteered their labor, and donated materials and machinery were used to install water meters and relocate a water main.

61 Habitat for Humanity/ City of Jackson Midtown - Jackson, Mississippi

Habitat for Humanity of Metro Jackson had been accustomed to building houses on scattered sites in good neighborhoods. This time they decided to create good neighborhoods in a blighted area called Midtown, near the Central Business District. The two-fold plan was to build as many houses as possible close together for impact and to partner with other organizations which would provide resources for residents to address their non-housing needs.

The plan called to revitalize 1 square mile (mid town) and involve the entire community in all stages of the revitalization. They partnered with churches, companies, civic groups, city, schools, and the neighboring CDC to physically revitalize and bring services to the neighborhood. Services now offered include:

• Social activities for children and adults provided by Urban ministries;
• Welfare to work, and neighbor leadership training, which identifies the leaders of every block, is provided by the Jackson CDC; and
• Innovative activities for children provided by the Walker foundation.

They began on the edge of midtown, buying buildings which were being used for illegal activities, and then having them demolished. The elimination of the crime and eyesores allowed other organizations and developers to begin construction and revitalization in the neighborhood.

264 Brickfire Project - Starkville, Mississippi

Brickfire Project, a non-profit organization, operates three successful child care facilities on-site at the Starkville Housing Authority in the City of Starkville, Mississippi. Their program allows low-income families to attain childcare services at a reasonable price. The program became available through a $82,500 childcare grant from the State of Mississippi. The mission of the program is to serve the economically deprived people of the tri-county area with childcare, cultural education, and academic programs.

282 Housing Opportunities for Mississippians Enhanced (H.O.M.E.) - Jackson, Mississippi

The Mississippi Regional Housing Authority No. VI in Jackson, Mississippi, provides a comprehensive homeownership program to qualified families called the H.O.M.E. program. The housing authority purchases single family houses in Jackson, Mississippi, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's foreclosure inventory, and makes these homes available for purchasing under the H.O.M.E. program. The Mississippi Regional Housing Authority No. VI has also built 8 single family dwelling units in Tchula, MS, a distressed community with little standard available housing, and also makes this dwelling available under the H.O.M.E. program.

285 Meridian Housing Authority Homeownership Program

The Meridian Housing Authority is implementing a Section 5(h) Homeownership program with the use of Public Housing Development Funds to purchase existing 3-bedroom single family homes in existing mixed-income neighborhoods throughout the City.

315 Jackson Housing Authority Homeownership Program - Jackson, Mississippi
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The Jackson Housing Authority in Jackson, Mississippi, is implementing a Section 5(h) Homeownership Program with the use of Public Housing Development Funds to build thirty-two (32) 3-bedroom single-family units on vacant lots located in two mixed-income neighborhoods in Jackson, Mississippi. The design of the homes is consistent with the character of the neighborhood and they compliment existing housing.

595 Mississippi Statewide Grant Writing Technical Assistance

The Community Builder staff created a Power Point training module to provide technical assistance on grant writing to Community Housing Development organizations (CHDOs), faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, and city and local officials statewide.

Local government agencies and local colleges helped to identify and secure sites for the 3 ½ hour seminar, which took place all over the state.

596 HBCU Needs Assessment

The Community Builder (CB) staff, in partnership with Community Planning and Development (CPD) staff, developed a Needs Assessment tool for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) participating in HUD’s HBCU program. The assessment tool was designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual HBCUs, as well as areas of concern to all HBCUs statewide. The problem areas that the assessment tool identified included leveraging community resources, generating the necessary paperwork, and maintaining effective financial systems.

The CB used the tool to conduct needs assessments on six HBCUs. Following each assessment, the CB presented recommendations to the CPD representative in charge of the HBCU program. The CPD representative took these recommendations to the HBCUs and worked with them to make the appropriate program modifications. As a result of the assessments, the CB was able to identify some areas in which the entire HBCU program needed to be improved, and these were submitted to the CPD Director.

635 Downtown Facade Revitalization Program

This project is intended to revitalize downtown Hattiesburg by providing grants to owners of historic commercial buildings. The grants are used to restore the original facade to the buildings. This program has encouraged businesses to relocate into the downtown area. Most of these buildings contain commercial businesses only on the street level, enabling the additional levels to become apartments. This provides additional rental housing that is desperately needed in Hattiesburg, as well as providing full-time residents within the downtown area. More people living downtown will also encourage more business.

741 Mississippi Housing Initiative (MHI), Jackson

The Mississippi Housing Initiative (MHI) was established to help the mortgage industry in Mississippi better serve the first time homebuyer by making quality homeownership counseling services readily available throughout the state. MHI developed a standard curriculum for housing counseling training so that both the trainers and the attendees will use the same content regardless of the organization providing the training. MHI has developed a cadre of trainers (non-profit organizations) throughout the state. MHI has developed partnerships between industry participants to meet needs of all those involved in the mortgage loan process. MHI has created a financing structure to ensure ongoing support for the Initiative and local counseling agencies to assist in the cost of providing the housing counseling and education services.

827 Mississippi Association Real Estate Brokers (MAREB)

MAREB is a member of the National and Regional Association of Real Estate Brokers. The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inc. (NAREB) is the oldest and largest minority trade association in America. Members of NAREB are referred to as "Realtist". Although, Realtist are comprised principally of African-Americans and other minority real estate professionals, the organization is an integrated entity open to qualified practitioners of all races who are interested in achieving the ideals of the Realist theme, "Democracy in Housing". Realtists have made substantial contributions to the cause of democracy by working to provide housing for all without limitations or restrictions.

Through a partnership with HUD, MAREB has incorporated fair housing training by providing continuing education for members. The training was provided in November 1999 and March 2000. Approximately 40 members attended the sessions. The courses will be offered at least semiannually. MAREB is committed to eliminating discrimination in housing and continues to seek partners to accomplish the Association goals.

MAREB's 1999 activities included the STOMP initiative with Fannie Mae - its purpose is to assist in the promotion of affordable housing products to aid under-served communities. Also in 1999, MAREB participated in the regional 12 Conference in Gulfport, Mississippi.

927 Bratton Street

This community based homeless provider has put together a housing coalition to purchase rehab and sell homes (duplexes) on a blighted street behind their main office which are then sold to previously homeless families and individuals. The income from rent in one unit pays most of the mortgage for the new homeowners.

931 Southern District of Mississippi, Hate Crime and Civil Rights Working Group

The Hate Crime and Civil Rights Working Group was formed by U. S. Attorney, Brad Pigott, Southern District of Mississippi in 1996. (Working Group). During that time, the U. S. Attorney Offices throughout the United States were directed to form Task Forces to respond to the issue of church burning. Unlike other states, the Southern District of Mississippi Task Force was created and expanded its scope to include other civil rights issues. The Working Group resolved to take a proactive, rather than reactive approach to address potential civil rights crisis situations. The U. S. Attorney, Southern District HUD and other Federal agencies recognized that civil rights organizations, advocates and individuals were at a disadvantage, particularly in smaller communities of being knowledgeable of civil rights related activity. It was believed that the Working Group could serve as a mechanism to identify, discuss issues and solutions before a crisis occurred. The Working Group has met at least quarterly since its inception. Note: Hate crimes are variously defined in federal and state laws as acts (or threats) of force directed against people or property because of a particular characteristic of the victim, such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

977 Mississippi State Conference for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

The Mississippi State Conference (Mississippi Conference) is a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The Mississippi State Conference is recognized nationally and throughout the state for its leadership role in civil rights. The Mississippi State Conference has a long-standing presence and high degree of credibility. The Mississippi Conference is nominated because of its work in furthering fair housing and homeownership.

HUD’s Mississippi State Office (HUD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mississippi State Conference in November 1999 as a reaffirmation and commitment to working together to eliminate housing discrimination and increase homeownership. The Mississippi State Conference network facilitates HUD’s efforts to work with individuals and communities that it otherwise may not reach. The Conference has Chapters throughout the State of Mississippi that have geared up to teach first time homebuyer classes. The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Mississippi State HUD Office and the Mississippi Conference is similar to the agreement signed between the two organizations on the National level, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The memorandum represents the Mississippi Conference steadfast principles of social justice and reaching out to the under-served. The Memorandum focuses on educating potential homebuyers, including pre-purchase housing counseling, prevention measures concerning foreclosure and housing discrimination. The Mississippi Conference has recognized that housing is not "just" for homebuyers, but includes rental issues as well. The Conference accepts and forwards fair housing complaints for processing and participates in HUD outreach and education efforts. The Mississippi State Office has provided information on HUD programs at two Mississippi Conference meetings during the last two quarters.

979 North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community Development

Coahoma Community College partnered with the North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community Development in seeking a Historically Black College and University grant focused principally on housing repair in the EC designated area. Other components of the grant included:

• Entrepreneurial training,
• Fair housing community training and,
• The innovative credit testing featured in this nomination.

The credit test focused on race discrimination in commercial housing development loans. Nine banks in three counties in the Mississippi Delta were examined. Matched pairs of tester, one African American and one White went to the banks seeking construction loans of approximately $500,000 to develop 12-15 units of subsidized low income housing. For each pair, one tester would pay off most of the loan with a Rural Housing Grant, and one with low income tax credits. Investors would subsidize the construction in each scenario, and rents would cash-flow any debt service not covered by grant or tax credits. The testers were intensively trained by experts form the John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Clinic. As detailed below, this test, by combining commercial and housing elements, provides significant evidence in both fields. This is a first of its kind test in the United States. It should be noted that the tests were all pre-application tests. The tests were limited to an initial telephone conversation and a preliminary on-site bank visit. The tests were supervised, designed and executed by North Delta Mississippi Enterprise Community.

Out of eight valid tests, four banks "passed" with no implication of race discrimination. Four banks had real or perceived violations of the Fair Housing Act. (Technical Note: Since applications were never signed, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was not implicated). Of the four banks violating the fair Housing Act, two were guilty of "disparaging remarks" made to White testers about African Americans and/or low income housing. Three were guilty of "steering" white testers to white real estate professionals and/or black tester to black professionals. (Note: Some banks were guilty of more than one violation). The most egregious violator told the African American tester that the bank didn't make loans that big. The same loan officer one week later and based on almost exactly the same scenario, "courted" the white tester for 45 minutes and ended by inviting him to apply for the loan he requested. The irony in that test was that the African American tester was an experienced real estate developer with significant personal resources. The White tester was marginally self-employed, had significant credit problems and no financial assets. These results do not include what the EC has termed "sociological discrimination", (i.e., the tendency of the loan officers all of whom were white and male, to converse on social issues more extensively with the white tester than with the black testers). While obviously not covered by the Fair Housing Act, the EC found this practice to be significant, although not legally. Neither do the test results include gratuitous negative comments about the current federal administration or the Delta's (African American) U. S. congressman. These comments, while arguably racially motivated, are protected by the First Amendment and hence, not included in the test results. Accomplishments: The test results were finalized in early May 2000. The EC Board has not made a final decision on how to proceed with the data gathered. Two accomplishments present themselves even before the EC Board orders action.

The evidence supports the anecdotal reports of African Americans. Banks do discriminate by race in the NDMEC region.

1306 Mississippi Home of Your Own - A program for Disability Studies at the University of Southern MS

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered into on April 18, 2000, between the U.S. Dept. of HUD, Mississippi State Office (MSO), and the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) for the Home of Your Own Project (HOYO). The Institute for Disability Studies (IDS), Mississippi's University Affiliated Program (UAP), has been funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities since 1975. In 1980, USM became the fiscal agent for the program and assumed full programmatic responsibility in 1988. In 1993, the UAP was awarded institute status within the university and was renamed The Institute for Disability Studies: Mississippi's University Affiliated Program. In 1997, IDS was awarded a grant from the University of New Hampshire to establish a HOYO Coalition of concerned members of housing agencies, disability organizations, lending institutions, and consumers to address the housing needs of people with disabilities in Mississippi. HOYO utilizes a holistic and collaborative home buyer counseling process to accomplish project goals and objectives. Through proven relationships with HOYO Coalition members, disability service providers, housing organizations, lenders, and numerous project volunteers, individuals with disabilities receive the extensive individualized counseling they need to achieve long-term home ownership. A process and application were developed to assist persons with disabilities to move toward home ownership. Because the majority of people with disabilities live on limited incomes, down payment, closing costs, principal reduction, and maintenance funds became a priority for HOYO. To date, $139,100 has been set aside to assist consumers with down payments, closing costs, and principal reduction from state recaptured dollars of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, and through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. Local CDBG funds are used for consumers whenever possible. HUD has awarded $52,580 to provide technical assistance in the area of disability housing issues to service providers. HOYO also received a $10,000 grant to conduct homebuyer education classes for a limited number of consumers. The primary mission of IDS is to positively impact the lives of persons with disabilities so that they may be more independent, more productive, and more included in their communities. IDS pursues this mission across a broad range of disabilities and across the lifespan from prenatal services to geriatrics. Service issues of IDS address health, education, social services, recreation, vocational rehabilitation, employment, and independent living. IDS addresses the immediate and long-term needs of consumers and their families, service systems, and direct care providers through university training, community service activities, service demonstration, and dissemination of information and research findings. HOYO, a program of IDS, empowers low-income people with disabilities to achieve home ownership through resident involvement in decision-making affecting the operation of the project, person-centered-planning (PCP), skills training, homebuyer counseling, and employment. To ensure the involvement of all participants, numerous public hearings are held to encourage the participation of people with disabilities, disability service providers, lenders, and others in planning the project. Specifically, the housing/service needs of residents with disabilities are uncovered using a focus group approach. All homeowners are required to complete PCP which is designed to empower Mississippians with disabilities to move toward better economic opportunities, greater independence, and community inclusion. Individuals who may assist the person with a disability with the home ownership process, as well as related goals, are brought together to enhance available resources and assistance. Such individuals may include, but are not limited to, parents, relatives, friends, case managers, disability agency representatives, educators, and social service representatives. Through the PCP process, a holistic approach is used to uncover the supports necessary that will allow individuals with disabilities to live independently in their own home. Supports to satisfy individual needs may include, but are not limited to, education, employment, supported employment, personal care assistance, daily living skills, community involvement, budgeting, home maintenance training, and inclusive recreational opportunities. Once the needs and appropriate supports have been identified, an action plan is formulated to address pertinent strategies for goal achievement. The needs and wants of the individual with a disability are emphasized during the PCP process. Pre- and Post-purchase home buyer education/counseling is required for all perspective home owners. Workshop and individualized counseling topics include the advantages of home ownership, up-front and ongoing costs, readiness to buy a home, budgeting, credit reports, getting and closing a mortgage loan, shopping for a home, keeping your home, managing you finances, disability services, and more. The empowerment process begins with resident involvement in decision making affecting the operation of the project, PCP, skills training, home buyer/home ownership counseling, and moves toward possible employment and home ownership so that citizens with disabilities may control their own destinies.

1448 Headstart Facility

The City of Biloxi is an interesting mix of contrasts. The casino industry has brought wealth to the area. There are, however, significant areas of low and moderate-income residents in need of services on site. The key phrase in that comment is "on site". In the lower income areas of a community, it is sometimes difficult to stimulate agencies to invest in large-scale construction projects. In Biloxi, a significant need for child care and enrichment activities was identified in east Biloxi, the "older part" of town as well as a pocket of the city’s lowest income residents. There were virtually no activities for children in the area. The City initiated discussions with the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency (GCCAA), the Head Start provider in the area, to construct a facility in this area. The City and GCCAA entered into an interagency agreement for the purpose of combining public assets to provide for the civic, social, educational, and cultural welfare of its residents by constructing a facility to house the GCCAA Headstart Program and related educational facilities. Both agencies contributed financial and technical resources to the project. The building’s construction is complete and now serves over 80 children daily, with service expanding to provide more comprehensive services to the neighborhood. Because of the success of this partnership effort, the City is in the process of developing specifications, once again in partnership with GCCAA, for the expansion of the facility and, consequently, the expansion of services to the area.

3004 Southview Apartments Neighborhood Networks Center

Southview Apartments Neighborhood Networks Computer Learning Center is located at a 221 (d) (3) Multifamily Housing Complex in Aberdeen, Mississippi. The center opened December 9, 1998. It has seven new Pentium computers, which have Internet access. The coordinator for the center has worked with the residents and has developed the following programs: Computer classes are offered in adult basic education, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel GED certification. The coordinator helps in tutoring students to take the ACT, SAT and the ASVAB. The center allows residents as well as the community an opportunity to access information on local employment, health and social services resources, participate in online civic and government forums and learn to access the Internet to communicate with others worldwide. Sponsored Drug Awareness Program for the youth. After school tutorial program.

Content Archived: April 20, 2011