Living Well in Yazoo, MS

Katie Evans loves her new home. “The kitchen…the floors. I love the floors!” she says. If you had witnessed the transformation of Magnolia Crossing in Yazoo City, Mississippi, you would understand why. Ms. Evans lived at Magnolia Crossing before a substantial renovation was completed in 2015. When she moved back, she loved everything about the space. Two years ago, HOPE joined forces with affordable housing advocates across the country to make the case for increased federal investment in long-term, high-quality housing through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. HOPE estimated the economic impact of expanding the program for every state in the country. This data supported a coordinated advocacy effort, and Congress tripled the program’s size. It didn’t take long for the impact to be felt in Yazoo City, where HOPE teamed up with the local Housing Authority, the State of Mississippi, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and private developers to assemble $8.5 million to renovate 86 public housing units and complete the first ever RAD development in Mississippi. HOPE provided $885,000 in financing for the project, which created an affordable housing option that fits neatly within the rural landscape of the community. Magnolia Crossing is not a multi-family high rise. It is a neighborhood of single-family homes. In addition to the financing, HOPE forged a partnership with the American Heart Association to increase access to and educate community members about healthy food. Don Hewitt of the Yazoo Housing Authority is enthusiastic about all the activities at Magnolia Crossing. “We’re giving the community potters to teach [our residents] how to grow their own food.” Ms. Evans is one of the leaders for the Heart Association project. “We will get together to plant vegetables. It’s more than just a place to live. It’s our home. It’s our community.”