The Louisiana Housing Corporation has undergone considerable changes in the past several years, including the appointment of new board members, a major rebranding initiative and hosting the first annual statewide housing conference with over 500 attendees.
The LHC’s 2018 Annual Report highlights the organization’s programs and achievements after those changes. It outlines how the LHC is reshaping communities and the lives of residents across Louisiana.
Since April 2016, the LHC has helped thousands of Louisiana families gain access to quality affordable housing. We‘re proud of the opportunities we’ve been able to offer Louisiana citizens.
Our focus has been on a few key areas:
That focus has allowed us to reach areas and people who can see housing as a true opportunity for us all.
In our efforts to be a more responsive and vital organization, we’ve recognized the need to position ourselves to address community needs as well as housing and have implemented strategic and creative ways to meet these needs and overcome the unique challenges faced across the state of Louisiana.
“Housing is the most important factor in our lives,” LHC Executive Director Keith Cunningham says. “Our job is to build communities, starting with housing.”
One of the LHC’s main goals this past year was to increase accessibility, says Director of Public Affairs Na’Tisha Natt. “We want people to be able to find the information that they need most, so for us, this is an opportunity to make ourselves more available to the community.”
And these efforts have paid off. This past year alone, our homeownership program helped 555 homeowners purchase a home; our utility assistance program assisted 76,790 families; our rental assistance program aided 23,522 families; and our homelessness solutions program assisted 12,200 families.
Over the next year, we will create greater opportunities in the form of grants and supplemental programs. We will continue to develop long-term partnerships with local and regional housing entities to develop, coordinate and implement statewide housing policies.
We will also continue to build capacity in critical areas for our communities, such as disaster recovery. This past year, we have been given an opportunity to work with other providers in moments of disaster response and had the unique opportunity to play a role in several of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ directives, all designed to help those who need our help the most. Recent natural disasters in our state have made it more clear than ever the importance of protecting our most vulnerable citizens. We will continue to find innovative solutions to aid our communities’ responses in times of disaster.
LHC’s purpose is to function as a true community-building organization with a focus on connecting health care, education and economic development. “Our true role is that of a community developer,” Cunningham says. Our work has helped enhance the quality of life of Louisiana’s working families, homeless, veterans, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Housing truly is the foundation of vibrant, healthy communities, and our work will continue to help create thriving communities across Louisiana.
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