\nA new neighborhood called Community Green is rising in Oxford, with former faculty homes that needed to be moved off the University of Mississippi. UM photo by Harry Briscoe.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
OXFORD, Miss. – It’s a sight you don’t see everyday: An
\nentire house – not a mobile home, but an actual house –
\nperched on the back of an 18-wheeler, calmly coasting down
\nthe street. It gives new meaning to the phrase “moving
\nday.”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nBut as the University of Mississippi prepares to erect new
\nresidential colleges on the northern boundaries of the
\nOxford campus, the little white houses from Faculty Row and
\nSorority Row are seen moving on. It’s part of the
\nuniversity’s plan, with the help of city and community
\nleaders, to help these old houses find – and become – new
\nhomes for low-income families.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“From day one, we didn’t want to have to bulldoze a faculty
\nhouse,” said University Architect Ian Banner. “We’ve always
\nwanted to find a way to preserve these homes. It’s the
\nright thing to do, giving people the chance to occupy them
\non a different site. Donating them through LOU-HOME was a
\nperfect opportunity.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThat site has been named Community Green, and the homes
\nwill line a new road called Victory Hill Lane. A project of
\nLOU-HOME Inc., the development is just off Molly Barr Road,
\nnear the airport, on land donated by the city of Oxford.
\nThe community is rapidly taking shape as house movers place
\nthe Faculty Row homes onto new foundations.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Now that we’ve made it this far, there’s a combination of
\nrelief, satisfaction and hope,” said Fred Laurenzo,
\npresident of LOU-HOME, a nonprofit corporation.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nIn this phase, 12 houses have been relocated to the new
\nsite and renovations on them should be complete by summer.
\nNine more houses on Faculty Row remain to be moved, but
\nLaurenzo expects that to be finished by summer as well.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nIn the meantime, LOU-HOME expects to begin accepting
\napplications for Community Green this spring, with the
\naverage home priced at about $98,500, Laurenzo said.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“In Oxford, for an average-size home with three bedrooms
\nand two baths, that’s very affordable,” Laurenzo said.
\n“They’ll appraise for more than we’re selling them for.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nLOU-HOME is working with area banks to arrange financing
\nfor the buyers, Laurenzo said. Applicants will have to meet
\ncertain financial requirements based on factors including
\nincome, family size and existing debt.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThis is not the first time UM has partnered with LOU-HOME
\nin such an arrangement. In 2006, when UM wanted to start
\nconstruction on the new tower at the Inn at Ole Miss,
\nLOU-HOME helped get five homes moved onto different sites
\nin Lafayette County.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nOne of those recipients was Ocie Cook, who moved into a
\nthree-bedroom, two-bath former faculty home relocated to
\nAbbeville last October. When she lived in an apartment, she
\ndeveloped a habit of tiptoeing around, so as not to disturb
\nher neighbors. She doesn’t have neighbors underneath her
\nanymore, but moving quietly has proven to be a hard habit
\nto break.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Now I have to remind myself that I don’t have to do that
\nanymore,” Cook said at a Wednesday Brown Bag Luncheon
\nfeaturing LOU-HOME. “It’s so quiet and peaceful where I
\nlive now. I’m a country girl and I love being out in the
\ncountry. I love it.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nCook’s success story, along with those of the other four
\nhomes, did not go unnoticed when UM started to move forward
\nwith the residential colleges.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Several people took notice of that,” said Jim Windham,
\ndirector of procurement services. “There just weren’t any
\nreally good housing options for lower-income families. We
\nwere sure that LOU-HOME would be interested.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nFor LOU-HOME, the current project is much more ambitious.
\nNot only is the group moving 21 houses, they also had to
\novercome numerous obstacles just to get this far, including
\nraising the funds for the house movers and recruiting
\nconstruction companies. The weather hasn’t always
\ncooperated, either.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nHowever, generosity has been the hallmark of this project,
\nwith construction companies providing labor at virtually no
\ncost and an engineer donating his expertise. Throughout the
\nups and downs, a vision for affordable housing in Oxford is
\nstarting to come into focus, thanks to the efforts of the
\nuniversity, the city and LOU-HOME.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“We expect to help a good many people below the median
\nincome level for Lafayette County,” Laurenzo said. “But
\nwe’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 A new neighborhood called Community Green is rising in Oxford, with former faculty homes that needed to be moved off the University of Mississippi. UM photo by Harry Briscoe. OXFORD, Miss. – It’s a sight you don’t see everyday: An entire house – not a mobile home, but an actual house – perched onRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUM Helps Old Houses Become New Homes for Lower-Income Families - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/um-helps-old-houses-become-new-homes-for-lower-income-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UM Helps Old Houses Become New Homes for Lower-Income Families - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 A new neighborhood called Community Green is rising in Oxford, with former faculty homes that needed to be moved off the University of Mississippi. 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<\/p>\n