State announces $360,000 in grants for area agencies

The Missouri Housing Development Commission announced grants to six area service groups this week totaling $360,000.

The Community Caring Council received $80,000 for homelessness prevention and the Community Counseling Center of Cape Girardeau received $75,000 for a Fredericktown, Mo., housing project that will include 14 single-bedroom apartments for disabled and mentally ill people. The Vision House for drug-addicted and homeless women received $65,000, including matching funds, for rent assistance.

Mission Missouri of Sikeston, the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center of Sikeston and the Delta Area Economic Opportunity Corporation of Port-ageville also received grants.

The largest recipient was the Community Caring Council, which will receive money for the fourth consecutive year. The council uses the grant money for one-time-only deposit assistance for people living at fifty percent of the county's median income or below. In Cape Girardeau County that equals $19,750.

"It's a really good way to get people into affordable housing. They might be able to scrape together the rent, but then they can't afford the deposit, so this is a good way to get people started," said executive director Tom Davisson.

The council provides a maximum deposit of $300. In 2005 it gave one-time assistance to 157 households, and in 2006, it gave assistance to 179 households through October.

Also receiving money was the Vision House. Executive director Theresa Taylor said the $65,000 was the most state funding the organization has ever received. Vision House also received word last week it has been approved to receive $275,000 in federal funds from the Department of Mental Health, Taylor said.

The money, she said, will be used for rent assistance for women who have moved out of the house and are either reuniting with children or attending college. The transitional rent assistance is available for up to two years and is designed to prepare women for permanent homeownership.

The Community Counseling Center will use its grant money toward a $1.6 million communal living apartment project in Fredericktown. The group hopes to break ground on the project in late spring 2007 and complete the project nine months later.

Director of project development Jay White said the Fredericktown area is underserved.

State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, who advocated for the organizations, said they're all worthy.

"I'm very excited about the grants these organizations have received, and I know that they will use them to improve the lives of many Southeast Missourians. These organizations deserve the resources to do their job and this is surely a step in the right direction," said Crowell in a written statement.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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