New Hope asks for help with housing grant

Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 26, 2005

NATCHEZ &8212; New Hope Missionary Baptist Church needs a little more help from the Adams County Supervisors before they can go through with plans to put apartments on their land.

The supervisors approved the original housing idea in October, and voted Monday to consider the latest request of filing a grant application on behalf of the church.

The church wants to put 20 apartments on their Morgantown Road land to help with a low- to moderate-income housing shortage in Natchez.

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&8220;This has always been a part of our mission,&8221; Bishop Stanley Searcy said.

&8220;Today&8217;s church believes in expanding beyond the church walls and getting involved in the community.&8221;

The church has already gotten funding for 10 rental units through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with construction on those units to start next year. And it&8217;s applying for $450,000 more in Home Investment Partnership funds from the Mississippi Development Authority.

But the church can&8217;t apply for the MDA grant, a government agency has to do it.

The grant would cost the county nothing except the cost of running three public hearing ads but would give the church the necessary funds to go ahead with the project, said Tim Rayburn, consultant on the project.

Supervisors voted to take the request under advisement in order to first consult with officials of the Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District, which works with the county on many grant applications.

If the needed funding comes through, the units would be built by the end of 2007 and would be available to families making up to 60 percent of the median family income of Adams County.