The 36 percent poverty rate in Greenville means finding affordable housing can be a challenge, but one organization is working to change that. MPB's Alexandra Watts reports.
Daniel Boggs is CEO of Greater Greenville Housing and Revitalization Association.
“You have this in all rural communities, especially in the Mississippi Delta," Boggs said. "You have a very old housing stock, and it’s a substandard standing stock.”
The non profit community development corporation recently opened The Reserves of Gray Park.
"There is a misconception worldwide with affordable housing that it is cheaply built," Boggs said, adding that the housing is an effort to change the type of housing available to low income Mississippians.
The housing, located in a revitalized building, has energy efficient and environmentally friendly features.
The developers also see the housing as a resource for people considering leaving the Delta.
Nathan Benzing is the association’s senior project manager.
“Why is everybody leaving there? And there may not be anything wrong...it just may be...they just can’t find a job there...or they want to live somewhere that gives them their children to make the best future for them…" Benzing said. "There’s also an opportunity for an organization like ours to come in and say, ‘How do we change that?'"
The association has a waiting list of more than 500 families.
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Alexandra Watts is a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. www.ReportforAmerica.org
