Activities in the Gulf Region since the 2005 hurricane season:

• $32 million in grants, loans and equity invested.
• 370 homes repaired
• 520 homes in development
• 1,000 evacuee families assisted.
• $6 million raised for community development.

Investing in physical rebuilding:

• Rural LISC has committed $170,000 in predevelopment grants and recoverable grants to local Community Development Corporation (CDC) partners to help repair and rebuild 370 homes, develop 264 new affordable homes and apartments, and develop a health clinic. In addition, Rural has committed almost $9 million in below market rate loans for 245 homes and apartments. It has also helped two Partner CDCs access $10.9 million in LISC National Equity Fund commitments.
• LISC's affiliate, the Community Development Trust (CDT) has invested $3 million in capital for multi-family housing projects in the Gulf since Hurricane Katrina. CDT has expanded their commitment in the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) to $50 million through 2006 and will provide capital for the first mortgage loans to support affordable housing development primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi.

  To protect against future flooding, homes are being repaired and raised on stilts in Delcambre, LA.

• LISC has created a lending partnership with the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta. The first loan through this partnership is a $330,000 acquisition loan to The Resource Foundation to build 65 units of for-sale housing for evacuees and current low- and moderate-income residents in Baton Rouge.
• As part of a broad strategy to use the expertise of our Housing Authority Resource Center (HARC) to strengthen the development capacity of housing authorities, LISC has lent $650,000 to the Brevard County Housing Authority in Florida for a 72-unit project in the Florida GO Zone.
• National Equity Fund (NEF) will invest in dozens of projects in the GO Zone over time. Five Louisiana deals which closed in 2005 will add 146 affordable homes to the state. Another Louisiana deal which closed in 2006 will provide $2.8 million net equity for 30 units. Six additional deals are secured and moving toward closing this year, representing $18.6 million in investments and 202 units.

Supporting local groups:

• The LISC AmeriCorps program, in partnership with The National Association of Vietnamese American Service Agencies (NAVASA), is operating an AmeriCorps program with placement sites in New Orleans, Biloxi and Houston. Members will be placed to help Vietnamese immigrants and refugees rebuild their communities in the aftermath of hurricanes Rita and Katrina. We have been awarded 20 members who will primarily be Vietnamese Americans between the ages of 22-35. An additional 15 AmeriCorps members have been placed with community groups through LISC's Mid South Delta and Rural LISC programs.
• Using Robert Wood Johnson, Kellogg Foundation and US HUD Section 4 resources, Rural LISC has provided almost $1.1 million in grants to six local CDC partners to hire staff, support volunteer efforts, and provide funds to repair homes and businesses. Four of these six are new to Rural LISC. They are: Mercy Housing and Human Development, located in Gulfport, MS, serving residents in the three immediate coastal counties impacted by Katrina; Pearl River Valley Opportunity, headquartered in Columbia, MS, serving the people of 15 Gulf area counties with Katrina damage; and Centro Campesino Farmworker Center and Everglades Community Association, with main offices in Florida City, FL. The existing partners are: Southern Mutual Help Association, located in New Iberia, LA, serving residents of 11 southern parishes hit by both Katrina and Rita; and Pineywoods HOME Team, headquartered in Nacogdoches, TX, serving people living in a dozen eastern counties damaged by Rita.
• LISC has provided two grants totaling over $150,000 to support the rebuilding efforts of the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative and Operation Comeback in New Orleans in the Central City and Holy Cross neighborhoods.
• With funding from Citizens Bank, LISC local programs in the Mid South Delta, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and Rhode Island are supporting the efforts of local organizations to provide relocation and rental assistance, family and employment services, and access to benefits for 750 evacuee families.
• Houston LISC is working with three of its CDC partners to provide transitional and permanent housing and access to public resources for hurricane evacuees from New Orleans.

  LISC is supporting major renovation and home repair in D'Iberville, MS.

• LISC's Housing Authority Resource Center (HARC) has conducted training sessions on redevelopment with public housing agencies in Houston; Baton Rouge; Birmingham, AL; Jackson, MS; and South Florida. The sessions focused on helping local organizations and developers to identify opportunities for replacing damaged housing and expanding the housing stock. Sessions have included information on "green" design and building techniques.
• Rural LISC has been providing direct staff training and technical advice to partner CDCs since days after the first hurricane struck including deploying a training and technical assistance team comprised of community development practitioners with extensive hurricane recovery experience; organizing a weekend of training in the area devastated by Hurricane Andrew; retaining consultants for a variety of special projects including developing a business package and financing scenario for a health clinic in Mississippi; and helping broker a relationship with Mennonites to assist residents of rural Louisiana. (See feature article below.)

Creating partnerships:

• HARC and NEF are working together to assist housing authorities in Mississippi and Louisiana that are applying for housing credits. This is an important step to creating additional affordable rental housing in the area.
• The Community Investment Collaborative for Kids (CICK) has a contract with Louisiana's Department of Social Services to assist in strategically targeting $7.5 million in federal funds for rebuilding child care centers.
• LISC's Vacant Properties Initiative is advising the City of New Orleans and community groups there on strategies to develop both land banks and property and land acquisition processes for the City and its residents.

Advocating for new public and private resources:

• LISC's policy department is working to bring new resources to the Gulf including the Home Ownership Tax Credit and supplemental appropriations of CDBG, HOME and Section 8 funds.
• LISC and Enterprise are advocating for using Section 4 funds earmarked by a Congressional relief package for pre-development, capacity building and pass-through grants to CDCs and other nonprofit developers in the region.
• With support from The Garfield Foundation, Rural LISC is designing and testing a deferred second mortgage program to assure that low-income homeowners can rebuild or hold on to their properties and benefit from long-term property value increases.

Feature Article:

370 Families and Counting

Ms. Trula Thornton, a kidney transplant recipient who couldn't re-enter her flooded home, describes "the miracle" this partnership brought her.

By mid-June, Southern Mutual Help Association, a Rural LISC Partner CDC serving southern Louisiana, had helped 370 families, a dozen businesses and several churches rebuild and re-open. Knowing where to go, whom to contact and what to request made a big difference. So did timely and flexible financial support.

Days after Katrina struck, Rural LISC reached Lorna Bourg, executive director of Southern Mutual, and offered to organize a technical assistance team of CDC leaders with hurricane recovery experience and provide immediate grant funding. Receiving an enthusiastic "yes," Rural LISC plunged in.

As a result of team advice and a contact made by team member Steve Mainster, director of Centro Campesino Farmworker Center in Florida, Southern Mutual was able to persuade the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) to commit to at least two years of rebuilding assistance. This is great news because they are skilled workers whose services are eagerly sought. Due to a Rural LISC grant, Southern Mutual is able to house 34 Mennonite volunteers on a continual basis in a trailer.

The benefits of this partnership are important and growing. More homes are being repaired and rebuilt every day.

Key Contacts :

• Evelyn Brown, Senior Vice President, LISC
  (312) 697-6124; ebrown@lisc.org
• Sandra Rosenblith, Senior Vice President, Rural LISC
  (202) 739-9272; srosenblith@lisc.org
• Charles Williams, Vice President, Gulf Opportunity Zone Team, NEF
  (225) 924-3334; cwilliams@nefinc.org
• Christine Robertson, Program Officer, LISC
  (216) 432-9354 (until August 8); crobertson@lisc.org
• Baton Rouge LISC/NEF Office
  5420 Corporate Boulevard
  Suite 205
  Baton Rouge, LA 70808
  T: (225) 924-3334
  T: (866) 924-3334
  F: (225) 924-3335