Funds will help one local home
COOKEVILLE –Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity today announced it will receive $15,500 in grant funding by Habitat for Humanity of Tennessee to build a new home in Cookeville.
The funding comes as part of a $500,000 grant from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA). Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanityand its sister organizations throughout the state will apply the grant toward the construction of 30 new homes for qualified first-time homebuyers.
“We have five families waiting to build and buy an affordable home,” said Pam Ealey, executive director. “This grant is going to increase our ability to serve families in need of a decent place to live. The need for affordable housing continues to grow and grants like this help us meet that growing need.”
THDA allocates the funds to Habitat for Humanity of Tennessee, and local Habitat chapters could apply for $15,500 per home build. When construction is complete in June 2020, more than 100 children and adults will be living in affordable, energy-efficient homes built in part from this funding.
“THDA is a strong statewide partner helping us make homeownership a reality for more Tennesseans,” said Colleen Dudley, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Tennessee. “This grant provides us with a solid foundation to spur our larger fundraising efforts, which will reach over $4 millionfrom individuals, churches, foundations and businesses to complete these builds.”
Funding for the grant came from the Tennessee Housing Trust Fund (THTF) which receives no state tax dollars but is instead funded by revenue from THDA’s mortgage loan program. Since 2006, THDA has provided more than $75 million in THTF grants.
“We share Habitat’s mission and its passion for creating new homeownership opportunities for Tennessee families, so it’s a very natural partnership,” said THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey. “We’re always confident that Habitat is going to put our funding to good use, and I’m sure more than a few THDA staffers will be among the volunteers at build sites across the state.”
In addition to supporting Habitat for Humanity with grant funding, THDA also provides zero-interest home loans to qualified Habitat homeowners. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage that, in turn, helps fund future Habitat builds.
Habitat for Humanity is propelled by a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat for Humanity began in Tennessee in 1978 when Appalachia Habitat was created serving Scott and Morgan counties. The Christian housing organization has grown over the past 41 years to include 40 affiliates that serve 65 counties. Tennessee is ranked the fourth largest builder of Habitat for Humanity homes in the country. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit HabitatTN.org.
THDA is Tennessee’s housing finance agency, created by the General Assembly in 1973. THDA was created to promote the production of more affordable new housing units for very low, low and moderate income individuals and families in the state, to promote the preservation and rehabilitation of existing housing units for such persons, and to bring greater stability to the residential construction industry and related industries so as to assure a steady flow of production of new housing units. For more information, visit THDA.org.
Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity (UCHFH) constructs and sells homes to qualified low-income families. Serving both Overton and Putnam County, UCHFH is a non-profit Christian housing ministry that builds simple, decent and affordable homes in partnership with God and families in need. For more information contact Melissa Parks at 931-528-1711ext. 7 or email melissa@uchabitat.org.
