TUPELO, Miss., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BancorpSouth,
Inc. (NYSE: BXS), a $13.2 billion
asset financial holding company, announced that BancorpSouth Bank,
a wholly owned subsidiary, has funded 19 projects in eleven
Mississippi towns since January in
conjunction with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) by awarding $89,025 in Special Needs Assistance Program
(SNAP) grants. SNAP is a rehabilitative program that provides
grant funds to assist income-qualified, special needs homeowners
with necessary home repairs and modifications.
Tupelo, the headquarters of
BancorpSouth, received nine grants and one grant was awarded in
each of these Mississippi towns:
Grenada, Summitt, Purvis, Macon, Hattiesburg, Mound
Bayou, Bogue Chitto,
Laurel, Columbia and McComb. In addition, two grants,
totaling $4,610, were awarded in
Louisiana -- one in Shreveport and another in neighboring
Bossier City.
While participating in these SNAP grants, BancorpSouth partnered
with non-profit organizations already serving the special needs
public. In the case of the nine SNAP grants provided in
Tupelo, the bank teamed with
Neighborhood Development Corp., a nonprofit organization whose
mission is to provide safe and affordable housing to Tupelo residents. In all other SNAP grants
awarded to Mississippi residents,
BancorpSouth partnered with the University of
Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies in
Hattiesburg.
"We like partnering with non-profit organizations for this type
of grant," said Christy Minton of
Memphis, fair lending officer at
BancorpSouth. "These two outstanding non-profits can provide
counseling and other services that we might not be able to provide
as a financial institution. Together, we can offer a complete
package."
Those receiving SNAP grants are low-income residents who do not
have other resources for making critical home repairs, said
Peggy Woods, a Tupelo city employee with the Department of
Development Services. Woods works closely with Neighborhood
Development Corp. to disburse SNAP funds and she, too, has seen
great demand for the program in Tupelo.
Woods said residents who have benefited from the program include
the elderly, disabled, or those with special needs who have no
wiggle room in their income for housing repairs.
"The homeowners are very appreciative of the work that we are
able to accomplish through the SNAP program," Woods said.
In 2010, FHLB Dallas set aside $1.5
million for SNAP, a rehabilitation program available through
FHLB Dallas member institutions, like BancorpSouth, that provides
grant funds to assist income-qualified, special needs homeowners
with necessary home repairs and modifications. Each SNAP recipient
is eligible to receive up to $5,000.
If a participating member financial institution such as
BancorpSouth contributes at least $350 toward costs associated with the
rehabilitation, the homeowner is eligible to receive up to
$7,000 in grant funds.
Examples of Those Helped
Of the 19 Mississippi homeowners assisted so far by BancorpSouth
and FHLB Dallas, here are two examples:
A retired Tupelo, Mississippi,
couple, Charles and Janie Clanton,
own a home that had fallen into despair. Janie Clanton, 71, is disabled, and her husband,
Charles, 89, is not physically able to make home repairs. The
couple did not have the income to hire out the work.
A $4,500 SNAP grant provided the
Clanton home with interior ceiling and wall repairs due to a
shifting foundation. Rotted wood from the cedar-plank home's
exterior was also replaced, and the entire exterior was repainted
as a result. Repairs were also made to the kitchen cabinetry.
"It looked and felt like the house was going to fall down," said
Mrs. Clanton. "We had tried to get help for three years. I just
kept praying." Mrs. Clanton said the repairs were completed earlier
this spring, and she is very thankful for the help that the SNAP
grant provided her and her husband.
Another recipient was Gracie
Hawthorne of Hattiesburg.
She needed home repairs to the home she had resided in for 19
years. Her disability, vision impairment, caused her to retire
early and her limited income did not allow her to successfully save
for home maintenance and repairs. After Hawthorne contacted the
University of Southern Mississippi
Institute for Disability Studies (IDS), Heather Steele, IDS Housing and Community
Support Counselor, assisted her in submitting paperwork to qualify
for the SNAP program grant for homeowner rehab.
BancorpSouth was the member bank that allowed Hawthorne to
receive the grant funds from FHLB. "I am so appreciative of all the
help I received," Hawthorne said. "I could not have had any of this
work done without the assistance of IDS and the grant funding."
Evelyn Edwards of Jackson, Vice President, Regional CRA
(Community Reinvestment Act) officer at BancorpSouth, says "The
dollar amount isn't the important thing. It's what done with those
dollars that makes the difference."
About BancorpSouth
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered
in Tupelo, Mississippi, with
approximately $13.2 billion in
assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 314 commercial banking,
mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. BancorpSouth Bank also operates
an insurance location in Illinois.
BancorpSouth's common stock is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol BXS.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the
FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with
total assets of $58.7 billion as of
March 31, 2010, is a member-owned
cooperative that supports housing and community development by
providing competitively priced advances and other credit products
to more than 900 members and associated institutions in
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New
Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit the
FHLB Dallas web site at fhlb.com.
For more information about FHLB Dallas programs, please contact
the Corporate Communications Department at 214.441.8445.
SOURCE BancorpSouth, Inc.