$750K Grant to Help Build Affordable Housing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

BancorpSouth Bank and FHLB Dallas Award Affordable Housing Program Funds

HATTIESBURG, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded a $750,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to Hattiesburg Housing Authority to demolish a portion of the existing units of the Briarfield Homes and replace them with 76 new, affordable housing units.

The grant will help fund the $13.5 million project to provide new rental housing for low- to moderate-income families and individuals in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

“These new one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will be a breath of fresh air for the community and especially for the families who will live there,” said Judy Mellard, executive director of the Hattiesburg Housing Authority. “We are grateful to BancorpSouth and to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas for lending their support of this project. This Affordable Housing Program grant will help make a huge difference in these families’ lives.”

She said the Hattiesburg Housing Authority expected to begin construction in the Spring of 2021 and to complete the project by spring of 2022.

Grant Walker, BancorpSouth Bank president — Hattiesburg, Mississippi market, said the Briarfield Homes project is the type of high-impact investment in the community BancorpSouth Bank likes to make.

“For the families who move into these units, this will be life changing,” he said. “We are proud to join with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas to help fund these new rental units for deserving low- to moderate-income families in our community.”

FHLB Dallas awards AHP grants annually through members like BancorpSouth to support the creation or rehabilitation of affordable housing units, among other uses. In 2019, FHLB Dallas awarded $17 million in AHP grants to 35 projects that will result in 2,122 new or renovated housing units. Of that, $4.6 million was awarded to Mississippi projects and will result in 466 new or rehabilitated housing units.

“We are pleased to join BancorpSouth Bank to help provide these new affordable housing units in Hattiesburg,” said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. “This is a significant project that will vastly improve the lives of 76 income-qualified individuals and families.”

Visit fhlb.com/ahp for more information on the AHP.

About BancorpSouth Bank

BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS) is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with approximately $23 billion in assets. BancorpSouth operates approximately 310 full-service branch locations as well as additional mortgage, insurance, and loan production offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois. BancorpSouth is committed to a culture of respect, diversity, and inclusion in both its workplace and communities. To learn more, visit our Community Commitment page at bancorpsouth.com; "Like" us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter@MyBXS; or connect with us through LinkedIn.

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 $75 billion as of June, 30, 2020, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information.