BankPlus and FHLB Dallas Award More than $111K to Eight Nonprofits

BankPlus of Ridgeland, Mississippi, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded $111,450 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds to eight nonprofits in Mississippi and Louisiana.

PGP grants help qualified nonprofit organizations fund a variety of operational and administrative activities that are critical to serving their communities.

“At BankPlus, we pride ourselves on supporting our communities,” said First Vice President Mark Ouellette. “One of the best ways we can do that is to help the organizations that help our communities in so many ways. These fine nonprofits in Mississippi and Louisiana certainly fit that category. We are thrilled to work with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas to provide more than $111,000 to these organizations to defray some of their administrative costs.”

The eight organizations and their uses for the grant money are:

Mississippi:

Community Students Learning Center (CSLC), $24,000

CSLC in Lexington promotes community and educational change by providing state-of-the art leadership development and personal improvement opportunities to youth, adults and seniors. The center will use the funds to increase organizational capacity and for contractual services to continue building homes for low-income families through its housing program.

Housing Education and Economic Development (HEED), $6,000

Since 1989, HEED, in Jackson, has counseled more than 12,000 clients on foreclosure prevention, predatory lending, subprime lending, fair housing, reverse mortgages and rental issues. The organization will use the grant funds to help offset the impact of the cancellation of its largest fundraising event in April because of the pandemic.

Lauderdale County Habitat for Humanity (LCHFH), $12,000

Since 1989, LCHFH has built homes for 80 families who became new homeowners. In 2013, the organization began a program to help low-income families, including families with members who are elderly, disabled or veterans, repair their homes. LCHFH plans to use the grant funds for operational and administrative expenses.

MadCAAP (Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty), $30,000

The anti-poverty organization in Canton serves about 2,800 families living in poverty in Madison County by providing food, classes, clothes, housing repair and emergency services. The organization will use the grant for organizational capacity building and to support its food pantry which has seen a spike in demand caused by the pandemic.

The Center for Social Entrepreneurship, $24,000

The center, located in Jackson, seeks to enhance the quality of life in the target community of iVillage, a blighted, low-income community in West Jackson, Mississippi, through a combined focus on education, economic business development, housing and community engagement. The grant will be used for organizational capacity building and for additional operational and administrative expenses that have resulted from the pandemic.

Wounded Warriors of Mississippi, $6,000

The organization, located in Brandon, addresses the housing and other needs of wounded veterans in Mississippi. Wounded Warriors plans to use the grant to help veterans with needs brought on by the pandemic and to cover the cost of remodeling wounded veterans’ homes.

Louisiana:

Tangi Community Development Center, $6,000

The center is a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) in Hammond serving low- to moderate-income families. It offers homebuyer training and various homeowner and rental initiatives. It also is a consultant for other CHDOs and the property manager for a HUD HOME rental project. It will use the grant for administrative expenses.

West 30’s Redemption Company, $3,450

The organization, based in Covington, provides quality, affordable housing for families in the West 30’s neighborhood of that city. To date, it has renovated 16 houses and built two new ones and is starting construction on four new homes for low- to moderate-income residents of the neighborhood. The organization will use the grant to support residents of the West 30’s who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and to fund administrative activities.

Funding of the PGP was increased by $2 million this year under FHLB Dallas’ COVID-19 Relief Program to support Community Based Organizations (CBOs) involved in affordable housing activities, stimulating small business development or providing small businesses with technical assistance. For 2020, program parameters also were expanded to include COVID-19 relief.

Through this unique grant program, FHLB Dallas member institutions contribute from $500 to $6,000 to a CBO, which FHLB Dallas matches at a new, higher 5:1 ratio (compared to the previous 3:1 ratio) resulting in a match of up to $30,000. If multiple member institutions contribute to the same CBO in one year, the maximum FHLB Dallas match for those member contributions is $60,000 per year. In both cases, the total grant to the CBO would be the sum of the member contribution(s) plus the FHLB Dallas match. Grants are awarded annually through FHLB Dallas and its member institutions.

“The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas enjoys working with member institutions like BankPlus who support a number of community organizations meeting a variety of needs,” said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas.

See the complete list of the 2020 PGP grant recipients. For more information about the 2020 PGP grants and other FHLB Dallas community investment products and programs, please visit fhlb.com/pgp.

About BankPlus

Founded in 1909, BankPlus is one of the Southeast’s premier regional banks serving consumers and businesses with the latest technology through a full suite of financial services, including retail banking, commercial banking, mortgage lending and wealth management. With approximately $4.3 billion in total assets, BankPlus operates 80 financial centers throughout Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. For more information about BankPlus, visit bankplus.net.

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 $75 billion as of June 30, 2020, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information.

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