Together We Are Bringing Families Home One At A Time

By Nicole Ditch, VP of Marketing Start Corporation

Hurricane Ida hit our community in August 2021 causing many families to be displaced. Through efforts of many in our community who are working daily to repair and rebuild, slowly families are able to return. On November 8, Start Corporation had the joy of cutting a ribbon on a home which will bring the Perrault family home. “After living in fight or flight mode for over a year and having anxiety daily I’m so grateful to finally be home. Home. I haven’t been able to say that in over a year,” said Mrs. Perrault. This family of five evacuated for the storm and had no home to come back to. They lived in a hotel out of town for six months then moved to a state approved camper for the next nine months. Their first day back all they wanted to do was sit with their children, ages 20, 14 and seven, in a safe home.

This home constructed was a designated Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) project. Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government (TPCC) is a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) Participating Jurisdiction (PJ). TPCC loaned HOME funds to Start Corp. a designated Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO), for the construction of an affordable single-family home. The loan terms require Start Corp to rent the home to a low-income family for the duration of the loan, which is 30 years.

The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use – often in partnership with local nonprofit groups – to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or rehabilitating affordable housing for rent or homeownership or providing direct rental assistance to low-income people. HOME is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. HOME funds are awarded annually as formula grants to participating jurisdictions (PJs), The program’s flexibility allows states and local governments to use HOME funds for grants, direct loans, loan guarantees or other forms of credit enhancements, or rental assistance or security deposits.

At least 15 percent of HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds must be set aside for specific activities to be undertaken by a special type of nonprofit called a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO). A CHDO is a private nonprofit, community-based organization that has staff with the capacity to develop affordable housing for the community it serves. To qualify for designation as a CHDO, the organization must meet certain requirements pertaining to their legal status, organizational structure, and capacity and experience.

With Participating Jurisdiction (PJ) approval. CHDOs may use HOME funds for all eligible HOME activities. However. to count towards the 15 percent set-aside, a CHDO must act as the owner, developer, or sponsor of a project that is an eligible set-aside activity. These eligible set-aside activities include but are not limited to the acquisition and/or rehabilitation of rental housing and new construction of rental housing. The two designated CHDO’s in Terrebonne Parish are Options for Independence and Start Corporation.

“It was a pleasure working with Kelli Cunningham, Director of Housing and Human Services for TPCG and Antoine Foret, Assistant Director/Community Development Administrator for TPCG. on this project,” said Greg Gleason, VP of Bayou Region for Start Corporation. “The journey this family has been on over the last 15 months is not something anyone wants to experience, but I can tell it has brought their marriage and family closer together and I cannot wait to see the life they continue to build in Terrebonne Parish,” said Nicole Ditch, VP of Marketing for Start Corporation.

For more information on Start Corporation, visit www.startcorp.org. More information on Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government can be found at, www.tpcg.org.