$750K Grant Helps Fund First Phase of Odyssey House Louisiana’s Renovation
The grant was awarded to Odyssey House Louisiana (OHL), provider of addiction recovery programs and treatment in the state of Louisiana.
Fifth District Savings Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
(FHLB Dallas) have awarded a $750,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP)
grant to help fund the first phase of renovating housing facilities in
New Orleans, Louisiana for low-income residents.
The grant was awarded to Odyssey House Louisiana (OHL), provider of
addiction recovery programs and treatment in the state of Louisiana. OHL
serves more than 900 low-income, formerly homeless and at-risk
individuals each month.
The AHP grant will be used for gap funding and rehabilitation costs for
OHL’s facilities. Specifically, the funds will go toward redeveloping
three underutilized and structurally unstable historic buildings, that
have fallen into disrepair and failed to meet current building codes and
standards for safety and care. These buildings will offer housing for
OHL clients to reside during their addiction treatment programs. The OHL
historic campus, known as the Tonti campus, will be renovated in phases,
so there is no interruption to addiction treatment services or need for
displacing residents.
Besides physical improvements to the more than 150-year-old campus,
upgrades will bring OHL facilities up to code, render the facility
compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ensure that
OHL is meeting state and federal licensing standards.
“The complete renovation of the Tonti campus will improve the overall
quality of treatment of its clients,” said OHL Development Manager Anne
Tucker.
OHL clients will reside in the renovated housing throughout the duration
of their long-term treatment. The group bed units will enable a
six-month stay for 52 individuals participating in the treatment
program. The residents include special needs, formerly homeless and
extremely low-income individuals.
“The renovation of the Odyssey House Louisiana buildings will be an
exciting feat to witness,” said Fifth District Savings Bank President
and CEO Brian North. “For many years, the building has stood as not only
a historical landmark to the community, but also a shelter filled with
purpose, support and rehabilitation. This is a great example of the
types of projects that benefit from our partnership with FHLB Dallas.”
FHLB Dallas awards AHP grants annually, through members like Fifth
District Savings Bank, to support the creation or rehabilitation of
affordable housing units, among other uses. In 2018, FHLB Dallas awarded
$14 million in AHP grants to 29 projects that will result in 1,853 new
or renovated housing units. Of that, $4.7 million was awarded to
Louisiana projects, and will result in 319 new or rehabilitated housing
units.
“We value our partnership with Fifth District Savings Bank in this
opportunity to contribute to bringing much-needed upgrades to a
necessary commodity that has helped so many lives in New Orleans,” said
Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment
at FHLB Dallas. “The renovations will improve the safety and quality of
the housing for those who need it the most.”
Visit fhlb.com/ahp
for more information on the AHP.
About Fifth District Savings Bank
Established in 1926, Fifth District Savings Bank is a federal mutual
savings association with seven locations serving the New Orleans
metropolitan area. Our primary mission is to provide a safe, secure
place for local depositors to invest their savings and to reinvest their
deposits primarily in home mortgage loans which enable our borrowers to
buy, build, and repair homes in our local community. For more
information, visit fifthdistrict.com.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the
FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total
assets of $73.7 billion as of September 30, 2018, is a member-owned
cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing
competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately
825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com
for more information.
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