Releases and Clips Landing Page

August 17, 2010

First Revitalized Public Housing Property in Hancock County Since Hurricane Katrina Officially Opens


JACKSON --- On Tuesday, officials with Governor Haley Barbour’s office, the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division (MDA, DRD) and the Bay-Waveland Housing Authority will officially open Oak Haven, the first revitalized public housing property in Hancock County since Hurricane Katrina.

 

June 23, 2010

MDA DRD and Northrop Grumman Hold Ground Breaking for Shipbuilding Academy

JACKSON, Miss. - A ground breaking was recently held for the Jackson County Maritime Trades Academy that will help train more people for shipbuilding jobs.

 

March 19, 2010

Harrison County Multipurpose Government Complex To House Gulfport Library

JACKSON, Miss. - Construction is underway on the Harrison County Multipurpose Government Complex. Located in downtown Gulfport, the nearly $6.5 million project will be the new location for the Gulfport Library as well as other government offices.



March 18, 2010

Picayune Fire Station

JACKSON, Miss. - Officials in Picayune cut ribbon for their new Fire Station last week. More than $2.3 million in Hurricane Katrina recovery funding was provided by the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division (MDA DRD) for the project.



March 18, 2010

Gulf Coast Housing Director To Appear In Spike Lee Documentary

JACKSON, Miss. - Gerald Blessey, Gulf Coast Housing Director for Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division (MDA DRD), interviewed with documentary filmmaker Spike Lee to share his stories of housing recovery on the Gulf Coast.



March 15, 2010

Disaster Recovery Division Leadership Speaks At Disaster Recovery Conference

JACKSON, Miss. - Mississippi Development Authority’s Disaster Recovery Division (MDA DRD) leadership appeared as the keynote speakers for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute for Economic Advancement conference on Disaster Recovery and Preparedness Planning.



March 1, 2010

Coastal Housing Database Available

JACKSON, Miss. - Today the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division (MDA DRD) and the Gulf Coast Housing Resource Centers launched an online listing of all available affordable rental units provided through MDA’s Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP), Public Housing Assistance and Long Term Workforce Housing (LTWH) programs.

 

February 24, 2010

Small Rental Assistance Program Exceeds 2,000 units

JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division’s (MDA, DRD) Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP) has completed and received certificates of occupancy for more than 2,000 small rental units in less than two years, halfway to SRAP’s projected 4,000 unit goal.

 

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Mississippi Awarded $20 Million Federal Grant For Railroad Improvements From Port of Gulfport

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour announced today that Mississippi has received a $20 million federal grant that will help fund railroad improvements from the Port of Gulfport to Hattiesburg, a major step for the Mississippi economy.

 

October 28, 2009

The Mississippi Case Management Consortium announces a new partnership grant.

JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Case Management Consortium (MCMC), a project of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service (MCVS), announces a new partnership grant of $1.5 million from the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division.



October 22, 2009

Governor Barbour: $1.5 million in Katrina funding slated to rebuild Long Beach School

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour and the Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division MDA/DRD today announced a $1.5 million grant for completion of Long Beach’s Harper McCaughan Elementary School.



September 1, 2009

Governor Barbour Announces New Rental Restoration Program

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour today announced a new Katrina recovery housing initiative targeted specifically at rehabilitating rental structures in existing neighborhoods south of Interstate 10.



August 17, 2009

Mississippi Housing Recovery Study Receives National Innovation Award

JACKSON, Miss. - 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.



August 12, 2009

Governor Haley Barbour Announces 128 New Affordable Housing Units Officially Open Thursday

JACKSON, Miss. - An additional 128 affordable housing units officially open this week in D’Iberville, the latest in a series of such projects helping South Mississippi families recover from Hurricane Katrina.

 

June 30, 2009

Katrina Funds Help Complete 80 Waveland Senior Housing Units

JACKSON, Miss. - Funded with $12.3 million from Mississippi’s $5.4 billion federally-sourced Hurricane Katrina recovery fund secured by Governor Haley Barbour, today state and local leaders will break ground for Waveland’s Oak Haven Seniors Community, 1200 Russell Drive, Waveland.

 

June 22, 2009

Construction Begins on New Bay St. Louis Fire Station

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour praised Bay St. Louis leaders for continuing rebuilding efforts with the construction of a new fire station to serve a newly annexed area of the coastal city. State and local leaders are expected to break ground today on the new fire station, which is funded with $1.4 million in flexible Community Development Block Grants from Mississippi’s federally-sourced $5 billion Hurricane Katrina recovery program.


June 15, 2009

Bay St. Louis Begins Much Anticipated Washington Street Revitalization Project

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour today praised local officials for beginning a centerpiece of Hurricane Katrina recovery work in Bay St. Louis known as the Washington Street Project. The $3 million initiative was funded by Mississippi's federally-sourced Hurricane Katrina recovery program.


June 11, 2009

Coast Affordable Housing Fair Happens This Saturday, June 13

JACKSON, Miss. - In an effort to pair people with affordable housing in the counties hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA), in cooperation with multiple non-profit housing agencies along the Coast, will host “Housing Opportunities Made Easy,” a free affordable housing fair this Saturday, June 13th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.


May 27, 2009

264 Affordable Housing Units Officially Open Today in Pascagoula

JACKSON, Miss. - With the opening of 262 new units today, the Mississippi Development Authority's (MDA) Public Housing Grant Program - funded through Mississippi's $5.4 billion federally provided Hurricane Katrina recovery package - has now finished more than 900 public housing units, and more are poised to become available in the coming weeks.


May 20, 2009

MDA Increases Public Housing, Community Revitalization and Water and Wastewater Recovery Budgets

JACKSON, Miss. - Today the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Disaster Recovery Division --- which oversees Mississippi’s $5.4 billion federally-appropriated Hurricane Katrina Recovery Package --- increased budget allocations for three of its most critical recovery initiatives.


May 15, 2009

Governor Barbour: Bay St. Louis Project a Big Step in Ground Zero Katrina Recovery

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour today congratulated the city of Bay St. Louis on beginning the Bay St. Louis Harbor Project, which will use more than $13 million from Mississippi’s Katrina recovery fund to construct a commercial and recreational harbor along the city's historic waterfront.

 

May 12, 2009

Governor Barbour Announces $15 Million for Katrina Recovery Housing Rehab Initiative

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation (GCCF) today announced a unique low and moderate income housing rehabilitation partnership funded through the state’s $5.4 billion Hurricane Katrina Recovery Fund.


May 8, 2009

Governor Barbour Cites Completion of Waveland Civic Center

JACKSON, Miss. - Governor Haley Barbour today congratulated local officials in Waveland upon completion of the state’s first disaster recovery projected funded through the Mississippi’s $235 million Community Revitalization Program.


April 15, 2009

Governor Barbour Announces 162 Public Housing Units to Open in Biloxi

JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Development Authority’s Public Housing Grant Program – funded through Mississippi’s $5.4 billion federally provided Hurricane Katrina recovery package – is helping make more than 600 public housing units available during the next three months.


April 8, 2009

Gulf Coast Renaissance Corporation to Open More Doors for South Mississippi Residents with MyHome MyCoast

JACKSON, Miss. - As the national credit crisis and the ongoing effects from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continue to impact South Mississippi, realizing the dream of homeownership remains unachievable for many Gulf Coast residents.


February 3, 2009

Homeowners Assistance Program Finishing a Year Ahead of Projections

JACKSON, Miss. - Almost 27,000 awards to Coast homeowners totaling about $2 billion, 42 percent to low and moderate income households, fraud and error cases less than 1 percent of total


January 27, 2009

Amendment to Public Housing Grant Program Posted on MSDisasterRecovery.com

JACKSON, Miss. - In accordance to federal regulations governing the expenditure of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, today the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) posted on its website an amendment to MDA’s ongoing Public Housing Program action plan, which seeks to restore public housing stock lost or damaged during Hurricane Katrina.


January 26, 2009

Elevation Grant Program Nears $60 Million Mark MDA Urges Applicants to Submit Required Paperwork

JACKSON, Miss. - Federal grants to assist Gulf Coast homeowners in meeting new post-Katrina flood standards are nearing the $60 million mark. MDA’s Elevation Grant Program (EGP) is scheduled to complete all applicant award determinations by late March, a year after beginning environmental reviews and disbursals.


October 28, 2008

MDA: Port Restoration Plan Moves Forward

JACKSON, Miss. - With the Port of Gulfport Commission’s overwhelming approval of the new Mississippi State Port at Gulfport Restoration Plan late last week, and in accordance with federal law governing the expenditure of federal monies provided for Katrina recovery, MDA has posted the amendment to its Port of Gulfport Restoration Program Action Plan on its website.


October 7, 2008

Small Rental Round 2 Kicks Off Monday With Workshops

JACKSON, Miss. –Monday October 13th, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) will begin Round 2 of the Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP). Kick off begins with the first of 16 workshops for property owners considering applying for a forgivable SRAP loan to help build or rehabilitate Gulf Coast rental properties.


October 3, 2008

First Round of Hancock County ‘Ground Zero’ Projects Invited for Formal Funding Application

JACKSON, Miss. – To date, the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) has invited formal, complete applications for Hancock County “Ground Zero Program” projects totaling almost $124 million. This $200 million federally funded program seeks to finance locally-generated disaster recovery projects in Hancock County, which was hardest hit by the August 2005 storm.


September 23, 2008

MDA Approves More 1000 Elevation Grants

JACKSON, Miss. – As of this week, more than 1,000 Mississippi Coast homeowners whose primary residences suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge have been approved for elevation grants. The assistance, sourced from a federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) package approved for Mississippi’s Hurricane Katrina recovery, helps homeowners defray costs associated with elevating their homes to meet new federal flood requirements.