A Phil Campbell housing complex constructed as part of relief efforts from the devastation caused by a tornado in 2011 was honored recently by an advocacy group for low-income housing.
The Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama named The Village at Oliver Place multifamily housing complex as its 2015 Excellence in Affordable Housing Project. With support from local, regional, state and federal agencies, the complex opened earlier this year, providing 24 townhouse-style rental units for families in the Franklin County town.
The project replaces housing destroyed by one of a series of tornadoes that struck Alabama on April 27, 2011 and provides families with an affordable and safe place to live. The complex also features a gazebo, a picnic area and a community building with wireless internet, a laundry facility, an exercise room and a computer room.
The Village at Oliver Place is a partnership between the town of Phil Campbell, the Community Action Partnership of North Alabama and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. A $545,000 disaster recovery Community Development Block Grant administered by ADECA helped fund the complex. The grant enabled the project to obtain more than $3 million in tax credits from the Alabama Housing Finance Authority.
“Tornadoes can cause tremendous damage, but they can not break a community’s spirit and willingness to put the pieces back together,” ADECA director Jim Byard Jr. said. “This project to aid the residents of Phil Campbell represents the tremendous progress that can be made when state and local leaders work together. We are honored that the Low Income Housing Coalition chose to recognize this project and our partnership.”
Byard and Al Jones, who coordinated much of ADECA’s part in the relief efforts, along with Michael Shafer of the Community Action Partnership of North Alabama, accepted the award at the 2015 Housing Works! Conference in Orange Beach. The conference addresses efforts to reduce and end homelessness and increase safe and affordable housing for low-income residents.
In 2011, Gov. Robert Bentley named ADECA as the lead state agency to help communities rebuild from damage caused by the tornadoes. In addition to meeting with local officials and coordinating state and federal assistance, ADECA administered more than $45 million in disaster recovery Community Development Block Grant funds made available to Alabama by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In its daily duties, ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.
