August 17, 2009

MISSISSIPPI HOUSING RECOVERY STUDY RECEIVES NATIONAL INNOVATION AWARD
Program evaluating housing needs after Hurricane Katrina to be showcased in September

Governor Haley Barbour announced today the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District received a 2009 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations for the Mississippi Housing Recovery Data Project.

The district contracted with the Compass Group LLC to assess housing needs after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. The data collected is used to develop housing policy and direct state and federal funds to housing programs.

“The Mississippi Housing Recovery Data Project has been an essential tool to help guide our recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast,” Governor Barbour said. “The information gathered on housing is critical to shaping the rebuilding effort and filling affordable housing needs in south Mississippi after the worst natural disaster in American history. I appreciate the hard work by the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District, the Compass Group and others who made this project successful.”

In June 2009, information from the Housing Recovery Data Project led to Governor Barbour’s congressional request for 5,000 additional vouchers for low-income renters. Congress allocated another $30 million to meet rental housing needs on the Gulf Coast.

The Mississippi program will be featured during the NADO’s 2009 Annual Training Conference, August 29 to September 1 in Chicago, Ill. NADO is a Washington, D.C.-based association that promotes programs and policies that strengthen local governments, communities and economies through regional cooperation, program delivery and comprehensive strategies.  The association’s Innovation Awards program recognizes regional development organizations and partnering organizations for improving the economic and community competitiveness of our nation’s regions and local communities.