HomePort I and II
While Back Bay Mission, a Biloxi, Miss.–based
community ministry of the United Church of Christ founded in 1922, has been
doing homeownership rehabs for low-income households
since after Hurricane Camille in 1969, it created a nonprofit subsidiary—Gulf
Coast Housing Initiative—in 2007 to provide additional affordable housing
opportunities.
One of the highlights for the Gulf Coast Housing Initiative has been the creation of the first permanent supportive housing for veterans in southern Mississippi.
Phase one of its HomePort project was comprised of a duplex for disabled, homeless veterans.
“We actually would have done eight or 10 units, but the financing was a key part of that,” says Everett Lewis, associate for Back Bay’s housing initiatives. “Rather than not do anything, we pursued funding for the duplex.”
The $158,000 first phase, completed in 2012, was financed through HOME and Supportive Housing Program dollars from HUD and the Harris County Consortium.
The second phase, which was completed in February and contains six units, was more challenging. The team raised almost $50,000 from private donations from local businesses and congregations around the country for the $532,000 development. Additional financing included HOME funds, a Home Depot Foundation grant, and a Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas grant.
All of the units are furnished, and no security deposit is required. Residents also receive HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers so they pay no more than 30% of their income for rent.
“We designed this so that the veterans could literally leave the streets or the woods and move right into these units,” says Lewis. “We just didn’t want to put any obstacles in front of the veterans to prevent them from being housed.”