Mississippi Community Development Programs:

In Response to Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill

IRD US

• Background

• Programs

• Principles for Successful Community Development

• Summary of Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned

• The Gulf Oil Spill- Our Latest Challenge

IRD US Overview

• Where– IRD implements a wide range of programs in the Gulf Coast

area.

• When we started – After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, IRD emerged as a leader in

rebuilding several Mississippi counties in which 70,000 homes had been destroyed

IRD US Overview

Internal Organization• Local staff with strong personal ties to human services community• 22 case managers NeighborWorks trained in 12 areas• Community Resource Centers of Harrison and Jackson Counties with staff of

50 located in 2 offices

Strategic Partnerships• Built multi-service agency with limited resources and funding from multiple

sources: Mississippi Development Authority, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Home Corporation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation , United Way, NeighborWorks

• Proving invaluable to donors by providing a central repository of data

Community Organization• Managing Long Term Recovery Agencies in Jackson & Harrison Counties• Collaboration with multiple public and private agencies• South Mississippi VOAD• CARRI (The Community and Regional Resilience Institute)

IRD US Overview

Homeless Prevention Homeownership Counseling

Crisis and Trauma Detection

Youth DevelopmentHome Buyer AssistanceAffordable Housing Locater

Financial Counseling

&

Foreclosure Prevention

Business Training Rehab & Rebuilding

Programs Implemented

Constructi

on

•Welcome Home

• Long Term Recovery

•Coming Home Collaborative

Housing

Resource Centers

•Housing Resource Management

•Homeless Prevention and Rapid ReHousing

•HEART Database

Home

Buyer

Assistance

•Mississippi Alternative Housing Pilot Program

•REACH Mississippi

•MyHome MyCoast

Programs Implemented

Economic

Development

•CLIMB MicroBusiness

Youth Development

and Job

Training

•CLIMB YouthBuild

•The expected increase in lifetime total income of all IRD US Youth Build is $15,400,000•An average High School Dropout costs $292,000 in lower tax revenues and increases in necessary social services•1 of 10 High School Dropouts was incarcerated on average versus 1/33 of those to receive their High School Degree •$120 million national investment in YouthBuild expected to produce a net return of $1.3 Billion for 2009/2010

CLIMB

Creating livelihoods for Individuals through

MicroBusiness• 66 business owners completed

program• 59 of those received the technical

assistance and access to funding necessary to create or expand existing small businesses.

• 91% of all clients served have been low income residents

• On average each small business created an additional 3 jobs over a period of 2 years

• 989 clients attended Homebuyer Pre and/or Post Purchase Classes• 596 clients that received

Housing Counseling purchased housing• Pre-Approved an additional

985 Mississippi Cottage residents for the purchase of their cottage

Financial Counseling & Home Buyer Education

REACH Mississippi

•138 First time homebuyer’s assisted into Homeownership•Total sales of $16,050,000•Est. economic impact of $3,662,224•Est. annual recurring impact of $1,187,766 in taxes and additional local revenue

•Assisted 458 Families into Homeownership under this program which provided an immediate economic impact of $8,212,398, and Pre-Approved an additional 985 for a projected impact of $17,662,035 over the life of the program.•Provided an estimated yearly savings of $9,450,000 in associated social services for Homelessness in the estimated 252 families housed in MEMA Cottages who would have otherwise been homeless.•$20,762,666 in estimated sales value to homeowners

Mississippi Alternative

Housing Pilot

Program

HPRP (Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing):• Financial rental assistance up to 18 months to homeless clients or those at risk of

homelessness. • NeighborWorks trained case managers, implemented foreclosure prevention

program to assist clients at risk of becoming homeless. Over 50 families have received assistance

•Coming Home Collaborative•Home Sweet Home

Hurricane Related Repairs

•599 Rehabs and Rebuilds combined with an estimated direct impact of $24,242,500 in local income and 248 jobs supported•One year impact estimated $20,504,000 of Reconstruction Projects•One year estimated impact of Rebuilds $3,738,500•$8,644,118 in direct assistance provided towards housing projects to date•$12,966,177 estimated value of volunteer hours contributed to date•Annual recurring economic impact of these projects estimated at $3,381,840 in local income and taxes

To Date: Welcome Home & Harrison County Long Term Recovery

Hurricane Related Repairs

• 153 additional Rehabs/Rebuilds to be completed in the next 12 months• $7,438,555 in projected direct

contributions to projects• Estimated yearly recurring local

income of these projects to be $676,368• $284,796 in monetary value of

projected volunteer hours

Projected:

Principles for Successful Community Development

Principles of Successful

Community Development

Engage Local Communities to determine unmet

need

Move from Needs Assessment to

program

Achieve

Consensus Among Network of Service

Providers

Build Political Capital,

Collaborations, and Ability to Leverage

Funding

Engaging Local Communities

• Knowledge of Culture and Community • Staff with local ties • Existing relationships with community leaders• Collaboration• Partner with other Agencies • Leverage existing man power with experience in disasters• Assessment• Collect data and gauge the needs of community• Identify immediate, mid-term, and long term needs

Moving from Needs Assessment to Community Re-Development

• Identifying population served• Working poor, the elderly, the disabled and other low

income groups• Identifying the unmet needs• Affordable housing• Economic stability• Link clients to Resources• Identify current resources in the community• Submit proposals to fill gaps between resources and needs

Achieve Consensus

• Lead in creating partnerships to address the unmet needs• Long Term Recovery Committee• Community Resource Coalition• South Mississippi VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in

Disaster)• Sustain existing networks• Collective knowledge and goodwill• Prepare for disaster response• Preserve the lessons learned

Build political capital, collaborations and the ability to leverage funding to address community needs

• Identify and Inform Political Decision Makers• Demonstrate community impact of government funding• Provide Economic Values for Programs• Short and Long-Term Impacts • Building relationships with local businesses, government

agencies, and other local initiatives • Securing financial and management resources

Hurricane Katrina

Lessons Learned

• Think, Plan, and Act Long Term

• Collaborate and Compete

• Focus on Results

• Be Totally Committed

• Work with Democracy and Governance Systems

• Be Mindful of Timing

• Define the Meaning of “Long Term” Recovery

The Gulf Oil Spill

Our Latest Challenge

Principles of Successful

Community Development

Engage Local Communities to determine unmet

need

Move from Needs Assessment to

Program Development

Achieve

Consensus Among Network of Service

Providers

Build Political Capital,

Collaborations, and Ability to Leverage

Funding

Engage Local CommunitiesOur role as a responsible community organizer in response to Hurricane Katrina identified us as a Lead Agency in the community and provided immediate access to invaluable information through:• In Coordination with South MS VOAD, IRD Co hosted and

organized a Oil Spill Response Summit in less than three weeks. Many national organizations were present and nearly every local community organizations was present among many other sectors. (community residents)

• Gulf Coast Business Council (Businesses)• Mississippi Center for Nonprofits (Social Service Agencies)• MEMA, FEMA, BP (Government)

Move from Needs Assessment to Program DevelopmentOur experience in assessments and working knowledge of the residents we serve as the Housing Resource Centers of Harrison and Jackson Counties and Community Resource

Centers of the lower six counties allowed us to quickly:

• Qualify tertiary effects• Discuss different needs of Man-Made vs. Natural Disaster• (ecological, economical, and human effects• Identify gaps in services• Minimize duplication of efforts• Promote better use of available resources

Achieve ConsensusA consensus is largely achieved through our networks of

service providers such as South MS VOAD, LTRC, CRC, MSIDTF etc…

provided by the clients that we serve:

• Discuss common concerns• Identify gaps in services• Promote better use of available resources• Minimize unnecessary duplication of efforts between

human service and government agencies

Build Political Capital, Collaborations, and

Ability to Leverage FundingAs a Lead Agency in Long Term Recovery, Community Resource Coalitions, and SM VOAD we have created theability to quickly respond in times of Natural and Man-MadeDisasters:• Organize community response• Produce policy and funding recommendations• Leverage resources through a united voice with

collaborating agencies• Provide assistance and referrals to existing programs • Program development in response to unmet need

In conclusion

Summary slide….

The lessons learned and principles formed in response to

Hurricane Katrina served us well in dealing with The Gulf Oil

Spill.

Our community is more resilient by having the networks that

grew out of Hurricane Katrina as we were able to respond with

existing services as well as prepare proposals for funding in

days instead of the months prior to the organization resulting

from Hurricane Katrina.

IRD has led the way in creating a more capable and resilient

community capable of responding in times of Disaster.

ContactLori West, IRD Gulf Region Director

228-864-6677, Office

lwest@irdgulfcoast.org

1223 30th Avenue, Suite A

Gulfport, MS 39501