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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 09, 2010
Contact: Christina Stephens, christina.stephens@la.gov
State of Louisiana Now Accepting Applications in Affordable Rental Program for Gustav, Ike Impacted Parishes
BATON ROUGE, La. - The state of Louisiana is accepting applications starting this week in the $50 million Affordable Rental Program for parishes damaged by hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008.
The competitive grant program is open to municipalities, parishes, nonprofit organizations and developers in the 53 parishes affected by the storms.
The ARP is part of $1 billion in disaster recovery Community Development Block Grant dollars awarded to Louisiana by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for damages inflicted by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. As part of this allocation, HUD is requiring the state to dedicate 11.2 percent of the total funding to affordable rental housing.
As a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, more than 24,400 properties statewide suffered damage. Of these, about 27 percent, or more than 6,500 housing units, were rentals. Approximately 740 of the rentals were destroyed.
Robin Keegan, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said, "This program is a significant step toward providing housing for our workforce that will get citizens into mixed- income communities. We have seen a trend across that state that indicates these types of developments are in high demand within the hurricane-impacted areas."
The ARP will restore and create affordable rental housing for individuals with low and moderate incomes through the new construction of rental housing, or acquisition or rehabilitation of existing facilities.
Last month, the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Office of Community Development held a series of outreach workshops across the state to meet with parish leaders and other interested parties in describing the intent of the program, refining the grant applications, and answering questions about applying for and implementing the program.
The state will continue to offer technical assistance in completing the applications through April 23. The application deadline is May 7. Awards will be announced in June.
- Click here to download the ARP program guidelines;
- Click here to download frequently asked questions;
- Click here to download the program application.
To locate the documents online at www.lra.louisiana.gov, click on "Gustav-Ike" tab, select the "Parish Recovery Proposal Templates" link and scroll to the "$50 million Competitive Affordable Rental Program" header. Please check the FAQ regularly for program updates.
Created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the coordinating and planning body leading the most extensive rebuilding effort in American history. The central point for hurricane recovery in Louisiana, the LRA works closely with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and partners with state and federal agencies to oversee more than $20 billion worth of programs, speed the pace of rebuilding, remove hurdles and red tape and ensure that Louisiana recovers safer and stronger than before.
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