More than a hundred people gathered Wednesday outside of We Will Go Ministries to celebrate the groundbreaking of Leonard Court near Farish Street.
The nearly $30 million project, more than four years in the making, will restore and rebuild 67 homes in the historic neighborhood located near downtown Jackson.
Dorothy Davis, Executive Director of Farish Street Community of Shalom, said she wants to see the neighborhood return to how it was when she was a child growing up in the Farish Street community.
“Everybody was so welcoming and looked after each other that that’s what I want to see again, the close knit community, and I think that’s what it’s going to be. A close knit community that says, ‘We all love each other.’ And when you have love, that’s it,” Davis said.
The Leonard Court project includes one to four bedroom homes that will be dedicated affordable housing for residents who earn 60% of the area median income. The single family homes and duplexes will be outfitted with washers and dryers, smart thermostats and an outdoor community space.
“We’re so glad to see Gulf Coast Housing Partnership thinking enough of this community to say they’re going to build affordable housing, not housing that they’re going to throw up and people will be pushed out of the community, but bring people into the community,” she said.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba said that the Leonard Court project is a sort of rebirth of the soul of Farish Street.
“When people have housing, they have a greater lease on life,” Lumumba said. “Things like crime are affected. When people feel like they have a stake in society, that helps our job market, it helps in so many areas that are important to the vitality and growth of a city.”
Mary Elizabeth Evans, vice president of development at Gulf Coast Housing Partnership, said she hopes this project will be a catalyst for residential and commercial investment.
The New Orleans-based low-income housing developer has partnered with Mississippi Home Corporation, the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VI, and other community partners and banks to secure funding and tax credits to ensure that the project is funded and that vouchers are available to keep the homes affordable for residents.
“The reinvestment of this area, which is almost a whole square block in the Farish Street Historic District, is a symbol of hope to the community partners and the community residents who’ve grown up in this area, who’ve lived in this area for decades and have been looking for those partnerships that can stimulate investment in the Farish Street Historic District,” Evans said.
The project will be completed in phases with the first homes ready for residents by the end of 2025 and all homes finished by summer 2026.
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