Housing Groups Get Grants
Money will give local projects boost
Housing advocates will receive $2.6 million in grants -- ranging from $300,000 to $1 million -- to build or renovate housing in the St. Bernard public housing complex area, Broadmoor, the Lower 9th Ward, Holy Cross, Gentilly, the Irish Channel and the 1700 block of Tchoupitoulas Street.
"These grants are the latest in a series of grants that so far total $7.2 million," said Ellen Lee, a senior vice president for the Community Revitalization Fund, which announced Tuesday that it had awarded five more grants.
"And stay tuned. We have more coming. Over the next five years, the total should reach $25 million."
The latest grant winners are Global Green USA's New Orleans Resource Center, the Broadmoor Community Development Corp., the Bayou District Foundation, the Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corp. and the Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association.
In most cases, the five grants supplement costlier projects.
The awards and projects are:
- Broadmoor Community Development Corp.: Three-year, $450,000 grant. It will hire a construction manager and seven AmeriCorps and Vista workers. The grant also will pay to house the AmeriCorps and Vista workers. The Broadmoor Residential Housing Renovation Program is partnering with Annunciation Mission and Rebuilding Together to renovate about 50 storm-damaged units per year owned by the elderly, disabled, first responders and Broadmoor's low-income residents.
- Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corp.: Two-year, $1 million grant. The post-Katrina creation of Volunteers of America National Services Corp. and Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans will use the money to renovate the weathered, 150-unit Chateau Carre apartment complex in Gentilly. Plans are to buy as many as 25 damaged single-family homes near Chateau Carre and either renovate the units or demolish them to make way for new moderate-income housing. The grant money will help Renaissance pay for a $3.1 million, 90,000-square-foot site it bought at 1770 Tchoupitoulas St. in the Irish Channel It plans to build 240 mixed-income rental units there in two buildings overlooking the Mississippi River, a $50 million project.
- Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association: Two-year, $400,000 grant. The association will help former residents return to the Lower 9th Ward by providing case management services to former residents to help them find resources to reconstruct their homes. Of the 14,008 pre-Katrina residents of the Lower 9th Ward and Holy Cross neighborhoods, 2,000 now populate the area.
- Global Green USA's New Orleans Resource Center: Two-year, $300,000 grant. The money will be spent to encourage Road Home grant recipients to rebuild their homes in an environmentally responsible and energy-efficient manner. Global Green will provide information, technical assistance and incentives. The group will hire two outreach organizers and one half-time media coordinator.
- Bayou District Foundation: One-year, $500,000 grant. The foundation will purchase lots and vacant houses near the former St. Bernard public housing complex. It plans to build 125 units of senior housing, "300 affordable for-sale units, 300 public-housing units, 300 affordable rental units and 300 market-rate rental units." A school, senior center and revamped golf course at neighboring City Park are part of its $240 million redevelopment plan.
The Community Revitalization Fund is administered through the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Its mission is to connect the needs of southeast Louisiana communities with individuals, families and organizations interested in charitable giving.
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Leslie Williams can be reached at lwilliams@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3358.
