The federal government is investing billions of dollars into housing projects across the nation, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is visiting Jackson to identify needs.
LISTEN HERE
00:0000:00
Exterior of one of the houses renovated in Broadmoor. -Kobee Vance, MPB News
In the north Jackson neighborhood of Broadmoor, Habitat for Humanity is renovating homes for low to medium-income families.
“This is an example of what can happen when everybody works together,” says Marcia Fudge, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She’s touring the homes that have already been completed, and hearing the needs of community partners.
Secretary Fudge says “We can not build enough houses. Today, we are 1.5 million houses short of where we ought to be as a nation. So if we don’t continue to start to do things like this, we’re going to lose even more.”
Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area often uses dollars from two major federal pots of money, the HOME and SHOP funds to update private infrastructure and renovate these homes. Executive Director Merrill McKewen says eligible home-buyers will be required to take some financial literacy courses and do some community service, but the price will be much lower than typical mortgages.
“At the end of the process we close on the house, they own it, with a thirty-year zero-interest mortgage. And generally, the payments aren’t any more than $650 a month, which is taxes and insurance.”
Twanza Payne purchased her first home through the project two years ago. The mother of 4, who helps to care for her grandson, says it’s exciting to be a homeowner.
“It’s a different experience moving from one place into your own. It’s a different thing when you say stuff people like ‘I’m going home,’ instead of ‘I’m just going to Sharon’s house.’” says Payne. “I’m coming home, in fact I got a home to leave a legacy for my children. I love it.”
The visit by Secretary Fudge is kicking off a multi-state tour visiting cities in need of housing investments.
