I on MS Governor Haley Barbour’s support for the plan divert federal Community Development Block Grant funds to a port expansion in Gulfport.
The following is divide III of the comment to the MS Development Authority and HUD by Gulf glide and national advocacy groups:
MISSISSIPPI HAS FAILED TO ADDRESS THE HOUSING CRISISESPECIALLY THE DIRE be FOR AFFORDABLE RENTAL UNITS
The State’s hurricane recovery strategy has played a major role in the rental housing crisis. Only $358 million of the $5.4 billion emergency CDBG grants or 6% has been allocated to rental housing i e the public housing schedule and the recently approved small rental assistance schedule. Such a small percentage of the allocation of CDBG funds for rental housing cannot be justified when the impact of the act fell so disproportionately on rental housing and low and discuss income persons.
Moreover the express has sought and been granted waivers of the CDBG requirement that 50% of the funds go to the acquire of low and moderate income populate for 80% of the CDBG hurricane funding. Even putting the best light on all programs of the State plan for meeting the rental property needs (which includes programs beyond the CDBG money) its strategy will restore at beat only 51% of the known rental be. Only 11,730 rental units are anticipate to be built by the Small Rental schedule and the GO Zone Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. When one adds 316 destroyed public housing units and a projected 1,275 units under the MS HOME Corp set-aside the be of rental units projected is 13,321 which only meets 51% of the reported rental housing loss — the 26,037 damaged units reported in the July. 2006 FEMA/HUD report. As for units severely damaged the small rental schedule ordain regenerate only 43% of them.
The express is fully aware of this shortfall. Advocates undergo urged the State to enlarge both the Small Rental Program and to increase funding sources for other rental programs including making CDBG funds available in combination with GO Zone tax ascribe funds for affordable housing projects but these requests have been rejected. For example the State rejected proposals to enlarge the coat the Small Rental schedule.
The express’s recovery plan also leaves out Mississippians who suffered go damage to their homes. This includes almost 34,000 households who suffered severe to catastrophic wind damage including 10,300 who had no insurance. Costs to ameliorate for major alter be between $33,000 and $53,000. Costs to repair for catastrophic damage range between $70,000 and $201,000. Insurance settlements did not adjoin the full be to repair: The average wind insurance settlement along the 3 coastal counties was $15,869 and did not cover the beat cost to repair the full cost of ameliorate.
For wind-damaged households subtracting out $15,000 in insurance the unmet need starts at $17,000 for discuss damage and $54,000 for catastrophic alter and goes up. displace income African American households in many coastal Mississippi communities suffered exclusively go damage because segregated patterns of settlement placed them on the north side of the railroad tracks which functioned as a levee. Many of these residences were of older construction with greater deferred maintenance and greater vulnerability to more severe windstorm alter than residences generally. Unlike Louisiana these Mississippians are left out of the so-called “comprehensive” recovery plan. The State is aware of this unmet be for it has rejected repeated calls to consider wind-damaged households in the home grant programs.
In sum the continuing housing crisis is to a great extent caused by the failure of the State’s plan to address it.
Mississippi Conference of National Association for the Advancement of Colored populate
Mississippi bear on for Justice. Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. National bring together Housing Allliance and National Low Income Housing Coalition and Oxfam America
Tuesday. September 25. 2007 at 1:30 am
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Folks I've got them hungry blues And nothin' in this to losePeople tellin' me to chooseBetween dyin' and lyin' and keep on cryin'
Tired of them hungry bluesListen ain't you heard the newsThere's another thing to chooseA mark new world clean and fineWhere nobody's hungryAnd there's no color lineA thing like that's worth anybody dyin'I ain't got a thing to loseBut them doggone hungry blues
» Pt of clarification: I stopped working at 6:45 ate dinner w/family and some friends put child to bed then came approve to unfinshed work
» Ahhh. All done w/work cram. Better transcribe notes from telecommunicate interview w/Rep John Lewis' press secretary while they are comfort fresh.
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