Across Mississippi, there is a shortage of rental homes affordable and available to extremely low income households (ELI), whose incomes are at or below the poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income (AMI). Many of these households are severely cost burdened, spending more than half of their income on housing. Severely cost burdened poor households are more likely than other renters to sacrifice other necessities like healthy food and healthcare to pay the rent, and to experience unstable housing situations like evictions.
Renter households that are extremely low income Shortage of rental homes affordable and available for extremely low income renters Average income limit for 4-person extremely low income household Annual household income needed to afford a two-bedroom rental home at HUD's Fair Market Rent. Percent of extremely low income renter households with severe cost burden State Level Partners
Mississippi Center for Justice P.O. Box 1023 Jackson, MS 39215-1023 (601)-352-2269 https://mscenterforjustice.org/ John Jopling, Director of Housing Law [email protected] Ashley Richardson, Fair Housing Attorney [email protected] Katya Matlock, Fair Housing Attorney [email protected]
NLIHC’s affiliation with our state coalition partners is central to our advocacy efforts. Although our partners' involvement varies, they are all housing and homeless advocacy organizations engaged at the state and federal level. Many are traditional coalitions with a range of members; others are local organizations that serve more informally as NLIHC's point of contact. Inquire about becoming a state partner by contacting [email protected]
NLIHC continues working with leaders in each state and the District of Columbia who will mobilize advocates in support of HTF allocation plans that benefit ELI renters to the greatest extent possible. Please contact the point person coordinating with NLIHC in your state (below) to find out about the public participation process and how you can be involved. Email Kyle Arbuckle with any questions.
Current Year HTF Allocation HTF State ResourcesLisa Coleman Senior Vice President of Federal Grants 601-718-4757 [email protected] Kimberly Stamps Housing Grant Officer 601-718-4638 [email protected] State Entity Webpage Mississippi Home Corporation NHTF-specific page Housing Trust Fund
The National Housing Preservation Database is an address-level inventory of federally assisted rental housing in the United States.
Out of Reach documents the gap between renters’ wages and the cost of rental housing. In Mississippi and Nationwide
The Gap represents data on the affordable housing supply and housing cost burdens at the national, state, and metropolitan levels. In Mississippi and Nationwide
Other Links Take Action Urge Congress to Enact Historic Housing Investments! Contact your members of Congress Urge Congress to Pass a Budget with Increased Investments in Affordable Homes Contact your members of Congress COVID-19 Resources COVID-19 ResourcesNLIHC has estimated a need for no less than $100 billion in emergency rental assistance and broke down the need and cost for each state (download Excel spreadsheet). In response to COVID-19 and its economic fallout, many cities and states are creating or expanding rental assistance programs to support individuals and families impacted by the pandemic, and NLIHC is tracking in-depth information on these programs. You can use the interactive map and searchable database to find state and local emergency rental assistance programs near you. You can also see the latest news on rental assistance programs through the state-by-state news tracker. Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all rental assistance programs as we continue to update frequently. If you are aware of a program not included in our database, please contact [email protected] . COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs
Across the country, homeless service providers are struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to follow public health guidelines and help ensure people’s safety, some shelters are being forced to reduce services, restrict admittance, or close entirely. The loss of these critical resources puts people experiencing homelessness at even higher risk of illness. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of shelter closings. Below is a list of shelters that have had to majorly alter services or completely close: No information at this time.
The Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to allocate $20 million in CARES Act funding, which had been earmarked for small businesses, to residential and commercial landlords who have lost rental income. Governor Tate Reeves’ office also plans to announce its decision to allocate the state’s $38 million Community Development Block Grant – Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) to rental assistance. Big If True explores how, in Mississippi, eviction moratoriums without rental assistance are “just kicking a can down the road.” Updated on October 14, 2020 More than half of Mississippi’s 352,000 renter households are at risk of eviction if Congress does not intervene. More than a third of all Mississippians missed last month’s housing payment or believed they would not be able to pay the next rent or mortgage on time, making Mississippi the third most vulnerable state in the nation for housing. Updated on August 25, 2020. The Mississippi Home Corporation will distribute approximately $8 million for rental assistance and emergency housing relief. The agency will partner with several aid agencies, including the Central Mississippi Continuum of Care, the Open Doors Homeless Coalition, and the Mississippi United to End Homelessness. Updated on July 13, 2020. The Mississippi Home Corporation launched the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP), which will partner with several organizations to administer nearly $8 million in Emergency Solutions Grants-CV (ESG-CV). RAMP will provide homeless prevention services, including short-term rental assistance, rental arrears, and housing stability case management. Updated on June 29, 2020. The Mississippi Center for Justice filed an emergency motion with the Mississippi Supreme Court to halt evictions until July 27 in an effort to prevent an expected and unprecedented rise in evictions and homelessness due to the pandemic.
Federal, state, and local eviction moratoriums are rapidly expiring and the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefits will end soon; at that time, millions of low-income renters will be at risk of losing their homes. The NLIHC estimates at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance is needed to keep low-income renters stably housed during and after the pandemic. This tracker links to news reports of the growing evictions crisis in various cities and states. Check NLIHC's cumulative list of eviction updates. More than half of Mississippi’s 352,000 renter households are at risk of eviction if Congress does not intervene. More than a third of all Mississippians missed last month’s housing payment or believed they would not be able to pay the next rent or mortgage on time, making Mississippi the third most vulnerable state in the nation for housing. Updated on August 28, 2020. The Governor’s order to suspend all residential evictions through the duration of shelter in place order expired May 31. Eviction cases are being conducted remotely and in person. Updated: August 1 In the third week of July, 34% of adults in Mississippi reported they had missed their previous housing payment and/or had little confidence they would make their next one, according to a weekly survey conducted by the Census. In the same survey, 181,760 renters reported they had not paid their previous rental payment. According to this Census survey, which has published weekly data since late April, Mississippi had the highest recorded housing insecurity in the nation for 6 of the 12 weeks data was collected, as well as the highest reported housing insecurity overall: 46.4% in Week 3 (May 14-19).
| Tupelo | In a July 16 meeting of the Tupelo Homeless Task Force, the director of the Mississippi Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC) warned that with the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium and unemployment benefits, they will likely see a new wave of Mississipians experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness. In preparation, members of local and state homelessness advocacy organizations are planning to hold a Homelessness 101 class on July 30 to orient nonprofit community partners to the growing crisis. | July 23 |
Updated: July 29 According to a weekly survey by the Census, 38% adults in the state either missed their last housing payment or have little/no confidence of being able to make next month’s housing payment – MS has one of the highest rates in the country. Updated: July 16
