One of the major complaints from candidates running for municipal offices in Jackson has been about the blighted and boarded-up homes around the city. At least one local group is trying to do something about it.
Voice of Calvary Ministries has teamed up with local lenders to put low-income families into renovated homes that were once community eyesores through its Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
At a presentation June 6 at the King Edward Hotel, Phil Reed, VCM president, said that his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has 26 south Jackson houses, some priced as low as $55,000, ready to become homes for low-income families. ” The first step is for the potential buyers to come in and do an application,” Reed said. “We’ll run a credit report, and if they don’t have a good enough credit rating, we can actually help them repair their credit through our financial home-buyer education and financial literacy program. For people who are very low income–that are 50 percent below the average income for the area–we actually have a grant program. Basically, because we are a secondary lender, we can make the house affordable for practically anyone.”…