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Press Room  

Media Advisory                                                       For Immediate Release

 
Housing Fund of Central Alabama Awards Grant to Westside CDC

 (BIRMINGHAM, AL, January 30, 2007) -- The Housing Fund of Central Alabama (the Fund) announced today that it has awarded a $29,000 grant for core operating support and professional development to the Westside Community Development Corporation in Tuscaloosa.  The Fund’s Grants Officer, Lois Chenier, said today that the grant will pay a portion of the salaries for the Executive Director and the Homebuyer Education Coordinator. 

 Louis Barnett, Jr., is Executive Director of Westside Community Development Corporation (WCDC). The non-profit organization develops affordable housing and administers affordable housing-related programs in West Tuscaloosa and surrounding communities.

 “We’re pleased to be able to award this grant to Westside CDC,” Ms. Chenier said. “There is much need to increase the affordable housing stock in West Tuscaloosa, and WCDC is committed to filling that need.” According to 2000 U.S. Census data, 85 percent of the estimated 14,000 residents in WCDC’s targeted area are at or below 80 percent of the Tuscaloosa Area Median Income of $27,731. 

 WCDC seeks to stimulate investments and development of west Tuscaloosa by using affordable housing as a “first thrust” of an even more comprehensive community revitalization effort, according to Mr. Barnett. WCDC operates an affordable housing center at the McDonald Hughes Community Center, 3101 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The center offers attractive lease/purchase options, and homebuyer education programs.

 In February 2006, WCDC placed a graduate of its homeownership program in a home built by WCDC on 20^th Street. The non-profit has plans to build eight affordable, single-family homes on Herman Avenue in a partnership with the City of Tuscaloosa and Seedco.  The organization also has developed a partnership with Shelton State Community College C.A. Fredd Campus, which was awarded a U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant in September 2006. WCDC will provide homeownership training, and will oversee the building of two affordable homes in the West Highland community for graduates of the training program.

 This is the second grant that the Fund has provided to WCDC. In September 2004, the Fund awarded the organization a $55,000 grant, also for core operating support.

 Mr. Barnett also is a participant in the Fund’s Non-Profit Incubator Program, which the Fund has operated since 2005 to help build capacity among non-profits whose primary mission is to provide quality affordable housing in underserved neighborhoods in the area. As a part of the incubator program, Mr. Barnett has completed a five-year business plan, and has received training in key areas such as real estate development, negotiation, grant writing, financial management, and non-profit management.

 The Fund’s 17-member Capacity Building Advisory Committee (CBAC) recommended approval of the grant to the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama Board, which approved the grant. Co-Chairs for CBAC are Mimi Tynes, Former President, The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham; and Maria Campbell, Chairman, Financial Services, SC&B Strategic Solutions.

 The Fund awards grants two times per calendar year: January and July.  Deadlines for each grant cycle are October 1 and April 1, respectively.  Since 2003, the Fund has awarded more than $500,000. The Fund also is investing nearly $250,000 in its Non-Profit Incubator program.

 About the Housing Fund of Central Alabama (www.housingenterprise.com): Based in Birmingham, the Fund is a non-profit affiliate of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama, LLC (HECA) that opened in 2003 to increase the production of moderately priced housing by providing grants to non-profits for core operating support on a limited basis, technical assistance and programs related to capacity building in the non-profit affordable housing development community. The Fund also partners with HECA, a for-profit lender, to provide financing to qualified private and non-profit developers to build and renovate single-family and multi-family housing for moderate-income families. The Fund also supports ancillary services such as homebuyer training and credit counseling, which help to guarantee the success and sustainability of communities.  The Fund has an initial grant pool of $1.6 million.

 Major investors in the Housing Fund and its incubator are: Regions Bank, Compass Bank, New South Federal Savings Bank, First American Bank, Superior Bank, Aliant Bank, The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the Stringfellow Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Calhoun County, the Walker Area Community Foundation, State Farm Insurance Companies®, the Wachovia Foundation, the Alabama Power Foundation, and BancorpSouth Foundation.

 The Fund serves 12 counties in Central Alabama: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chilton, Cullman, Etowah, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Walker

 For more information, please contact Tabitha J Lacy, Communications, Housing Fund of Central Alabama, 205-323-9888, or tlacy@housingenterprise.com.

 

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