Affordable Housing and More for the Mississippi Delta
Statewide conference addressed latest trends

Several participants joined the fair housing overview and training session.

Recently, the HUD office in Jackson co-sponsored the Mississippi Housing and Community Development Conference, a statewide event held in the Mississippi Delta city of Greenwood.

Representatives of federal, state, banking and community non-profit organizations educated the approximately 225 attendees about the latest trends in Mississippi's affordable housing industry. Mortgage lending agents from across the Delta participated in the Financing Affordable Housing Track to learn about the various funding mechanisms available to qualified, prospective, low-income homebuyers. Many of the participants also joined the two-day, certificated Rehabilitation Specialist training conducted by NeighborWorks of America.

The theme this year was, "Comprehensive Community Development...Affordable Housing and More." Keynote speakers for the conference were Trey Hairston, Policy Advisor and General Counsel for Governor Phil Bryant and Edward Jennings Jr., HUD's Southeast Regional Administrator. Post conference events included the Mississippi Elected Officials Forum hosted by HUD Mississippi Field Office Director Jerrie G. Magruder, and a public housing Rental Assistance Demonstration and FHA Loan roundtable.

A key component to the successful event was an overview of fair housing and equal opportunity's disability rights, including design and construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act and Section 3 training. Also very popular were FDIC's Money Smart financial training, which was approved for NeighborWorks continuing education units; and a special training session on FHA basics and HUD's loss mitigation procedures for realtors.

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