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By Nicole Seiferth
Five years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed communities throughout the Gulf Coast, the area is still coming to terms with the aftermath of the storms—some neighborhoods deserted, others overwhelmed with newcomers. And in the midst of rebuilding lives is the very real need to rebuild the physical things that make healthy communities and neighborhoods possible— homes, commercial buildings, green spaces.
Gulf Coast House Partnership (GCHP), a nonprofit real estate development company, is one organization making that happen in New Orleans and beyond. GCHP is also the first recipient of a program-related investment (PRI) outside the New York area from the Trinity Grants Program.
The difference between a PRI and a grant is simple. The recipient of a PRI is expected to pay back the money received, with interest, although often below market rates. GCHP will use funds from Trinity to rehabilitate a building in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. Trinity’s loan was for $100,000.
GCHP, which was founded after the 2005 storms, has a number of real-estate projects under development or completed in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities.
“People have to see that things are happening,” said Kathy Laborde, GCHP president. “Plans are wonderful, but ultimately you’ve got to show people something. Our work is visible.”
A stipulation of the loan to GCHP was that one of the offices in the Central City building be leased to an organization providing youth services.
“We want to make sure our investments contribute towards our common calling of raising a generation of leaders,” explained the Rev. Matthew Heyd, director of Faith in Action for Trinity Wall Street.
The loan is renewable for the next two years, and, looking to New Orleans’ future, Laborde says, “I hope we see it in a better place than it is now. This is not for the faint of heart and it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Nicole Seiferth is assistant editor for website and parish publications.
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