Habitat for Humanity of Smith County Receives $300,000 for Home Repairs

Southside Bank and FHLB Dallas Provide Funds for Critical Home Repairs

TYLER, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southside Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded a $300,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) subsidy to Habitat for Humanity of Smith County (HFHSC) for critical home repairs for rural residents.

“Our program, which we call Rural ReHabitat, provides critical home repairs to low- and very low-income homeowners living in rural areas of East Texas to improve their quality of life,” said Jack Wilson, CEO of HFHSC. The program serves Anderson, Cherokee, Henderson, Rusk, Smith, Van Zandt and Wood counties.

Brooke Mott, fair and responsible banking officer at Southside Bank, said more than 20 percent of the rural residents in those seven counties are over age 65.

“These residents are often on fixed incomes that are stretched thin, and this funding will enable Habitat to address critical repairs so they may remain independent and safe in their homes,” she said.

The $300,000 AHP subsidy will be combined with $165,000 in other funding to provide $465,000 worth of repairs to 30 homes over a three-year period.

AHP funds are intended to assist FHLB Dallas members in financing the purchase, construction and/or rehabilitation of owner-occupied, rental or transitional housing, as well as housing for homeless individuals. Funds must be used to benefit households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the median income for the area.

For 2020, FHLB Dallas awarded $19.3 million in AHP subsidies to 38 projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. The subsidies will result in the creation or rehabilitation of 2,749 housing units. Included in that total, are $10.2 million in grants for 1,475 units of housing Texas. Since the AHP’s inception in 1990, FHLB Dallas has awarded more than $324 million in AHP and AHP set-aside programs and has assisted more than 56,500 households.

Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas, said Southside Bank is making a major impact in East Texas with the AHP subsidy.

“These funds will go a long way toward critical home repairs in rural areas that sometimes don’t get enough attention, and we are pleased to join Southside Bank in that effort,” he said.

For more information about the AHP, visit fhlb.com/ahp.

About Southside Bank

Southside Bank is headquartered in Tyler, Texas, with approximately $7.19 billion in assets as of September 30, 2020. Southside currently operates 57 branches and a network of 80 ATMs/ITMs throughout East Texas, Southeast Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin. Serving customers since 1960, Southside Bank is a community-focused financial institution that offers a full range of financial products and services to individuals and businesses.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $66.3 billion as of September 30, 2020, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com.