Innovation in Ridding Neighborhood of Blight

For years our community had tried to rid the West End neighborhood in Hernando, Miss., of dilapidated housing and buildings and illicit and illegal activities. There were no funds to buy property owners out. There was no hope that the neighborhood would get better. The community needed some way to make something happen.

In 1987, the Desoto County Housing and Human Development Corp. was formed with the expressed purpose of community development. We thought our nonprofit status would give us access to grant money to buy properties and then redevelop them. We would build housing for low-income families. We formed our board. There was hope in the community again.

But hope soon faded as we were turned down at every corner for funding because our organization lacked the experience—or as it was technically called, “capacity”—to handle such projects. Then divine providence stepped in. In 1997, Sacred Heart Housing Corp. approached us about partnering in developing housing in the West End.

This would be a first in many ways in our community:

1. It was the first time an organization outside the community had made such a large financial commitment,
2. it was the unity of two organizations whose roots were from different faiths and races, and
3. it was the first new development in the West End in at least 40 years.

We were able to get the project done. Sacred Heart treated us as an equal partner. We learned much and we provided housing for 10 low-income families. Our efforts gained additional support. Other partners included the City of Hernando, Rural Development Corp. and BancorpSouth.

Today, the West End looks great. There are nice houses with well-kept lawns. The illicit and illegal activities are long gone. It is not the same place. It is a “best” place. We can drive through the neighborhood at night without fear. Our partnership might not seem innovative to some, but for us it produced something that we would have never dreamed of in the first 10 years of our organization. We were “thinking outside the box” for our time and place.

Andrew Miller is board chair of the DeSoto County (Miss.) Housing and Human Development Corp.  The community improvement nonprofit organization works throughout the City of Hernando, primarily devoted to housing counseling, housing development and community development.  Miller has served his native community for more than 30 years as a member of the Hernando (Mississippi) Planning Commission, Hernando City Council, the Board of Sacred Heart Southern Mission Housing, and the Board of the North Mississippi Baptist Educational Convention.  An ordained minister, Miller pastors a local congregation.

Contact information:
Desoto County Housing and Human Development Corp.
P.O. Box 693
Hernando, MS 38632
901-827-5651

exploring: searching or traveling for the purpose of discovery

innovation: to add value by applying a new idea or method to something established