A nonprofit housing development group hopes to take the lead on a Mississippi Development Authority HOME Investment Partnership funding that McComb officials are pursuing.
The grant will rehabilitate or reconstruct five homes for low-income residents in the city.
Hey, Neighbor!, a nonprofit corporation incorporated in 2013, has acquired seven properties around the area since its inception and made significant progress or completed work on two homes in McComb and one in Magnolia.
While this grant will only apply to homes within McComb city limits, Hey, Neighbor! president David Kelleher said he is always looking for funding to help the organization thrive.
The city will hold a public hearing 10 a.m. Monday at city hall to gather citizen input for the application.
Kelleher said he got the idea for the organization a few years ago when a number of housing options were popping up around the area and costing thousands of dollars.
“I noticed we were getting new public housing at $100,000 a pop, and I thought, ‘God, we could get a $100,000 a block; we could clean up some of these existing old homes,’ ” Kelleher said.
Hey, Neighbor! provides the funding for supplies for the renovations, and the homeowner puts in sweat equity.
To be considered for the grant funding, residents must — among other things — be low income, own the home outright and have lived in that home for at least one year.
Also, three of the five principal housing systems must be in distress — roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing and heating and air conditioning.
However, the stipulations of the grant are making it difficult for officials to find homeowners who actually qualify.
“For a lot of the homes, we’re finding they’ve lived there they’re whole life, but their name isn’t the one on the deed,” Hey, Neighbor! executive director Amanda Lewis said.
“You’d think you would easily find five people in a town of 12,000.”
If McComb is awarded the grant, the city will get the funding while Kelleher and Lewis administer the monies.
