TUPELO, Miss., July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth Bank, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS), a
$13.5 billion-asset financial holding
company, recently joined with the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Dallas (FHLB Dallas) to provide a
$175,000 Affordable Housing Program
(AHP) grant to the Neighborhood Development Corporation (NDC) in
Tupelo to provide low-income,
first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing costs
assistance.
NDC has offered financial and educational support for
low-income, first-time homebuyers since 2007. This AHP grant
will enable NDC to provide $7,000 to
25 qualified homebuyers to use toward purchasing a home in
Lee, Itawamba, Monroe, Union, Prentiss, and Chickasaw counties. The grants will be
distributed to 20 rural households and five urban households.
Five of the grants are reserved for special needs families.
Each year, FHLB Dallas returns 10 percent of its profits in the
form of AHP grants that are distributed through its member
institutions, such as BancorpSouth. AHP assists in the
development of affordable, owner-occupied and rental housing for
very low- to moderate-income households located primarily within
FHLB Dallas's five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New
Mexico, and Texas.
Peggy Woods of Tupelo, community coordinator at NDC, works to
facilitate the grant funding and manage the homebuyer program.
She said NDC has helped approximately 30 families move into
their first home since the program's inception.
"So many of our applicants come to us because they have the
means to pay a monthly mortgage, but they are unable to come up
with the large lump sum for the down payment to purchase a home,"
Woods said. "Our program helps fill the funding gap and
provide the extra cash that these families simply do not have.
NDC also provides homebuyer education courses to help our
applicants transition from renters to homeowners, and to help them
with all the responsibilities that come with homeownership."
BancorpSouth has been a partner in NDC's efforts for many years.
BancorpSouth Vice President Chip
Ashford of Tupelo worked to
facilitate the funding for the AHP grant, and said BancorpSouth is
a proud partner in NDC's efforts to assist local homebuyers in
purchasing their first home.
"This has been one of the best and most fruitful partnerships
for BancorpSouth and our community," said Ashford. "It is
truly rewarding to be able to help so many people in Northeast Mississippi by providing that little
extra push they may need in order to purchase their first home. To
see the customers' faces after they have realized their dream is a
feeling I can't explain, and we are looking forward to helping many
more potential homeowners in the future. NDC makes my job as
facilitator very easy and delightful. It is always pleasure working
with them and the new homeowners."
NDC also partners with other community organizations, such as
USDA Rural Development and Home of Your Own, to provide assistance
in addressing Mississippi's
housing needs.
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 $39.7 billion as of
December 31, 2010, is a member-owned
cooperative that supports housing and community development by
providing competitively priced loans 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 website at fhlb.com.
About BancorpSouth
BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered
in Tupelo, Mississippi, with
approximately $13.5 billion in
assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 312 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.
SOURCE BancorpSouth Bank