In the Summer 1996 issue of Rural Voices, Maureen Kennedy, Administrator of the Rural Housing Service, spotlights RHS’s efforts to increase homeownership through their housing programs, and examines the partnerships organizations have farmed to improve homeownership rates.
In the title article, “Robie’s House,” the Spring 1996 issue of Rural Voices describes one approach to building homes affordably. In addition this issue celebrates the accomplishments of rural programs in both Texas and Vermont. We also highlight the efforts of our rural housing workshop partnet; the Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP), to empower communities and improve infrasftructure. Finally, we have some words to say about the new rules goveming the Community Reinvestment Act and some of the changes affecting the Rural Housing Service’s Section 502 Homeownership program.
The cover story reviews HAC’s twenty-five year commitment to rural housing and how issues facing the development of affordable housing have been managed. We look at the accomplishments and improvements that have been made; however, we emphasize that all the good work and projects completed over the years have not gotten us to the final stages of solving affordable rural housing dilemmas. Nonetheless, the numerous people who have worked in this field have laid the foundation for a more productive future.
This issue also takes a good look at how some innovative people in Texas are trying to solve the problems that occur in colonias along the U.S/Mexican border; how Native American loan packagers help build links between Indian reservations and federal monies; and how rural housing development’s future is in line with the development of the information superhighway.
The first issue of Rural Voices highlights the struggles of farmworkers to find decent, affordbale housing in rural America. The magazine also features stories about empowering people through self-help housing and the Government’s direct lending programs.
Examines use of communal ownership of land for the development or preservation of housing for low- and very low-income households. Describes the conceptual, legal, and financial structures of a community land trust (CLT), explores the application of the CLT model to rural low-income housing development, and offers case studies of several developed and planned rural housing CLTs.
1993, 34 pages, ISBN 1-58064-058-3
Documents some successful approaches to improving housing and infrastructure in the Delta.
2000, 44 pages, ISBN 1-58064-101-6
Improvement of Housing and Infrastructure Conditions in the Lower Mississippi Delta (PDF)