In the days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, communities began to think about rebuilding, even while still responding to the devastation. In South Mississippi, community and business leaders organized a business council to try to understand the region’s recovery. From that council came the Renaissance Community Loan Fund, now known as RCLF. The nonprofit was supposed to be temporary.
As homeowners surveyed what remained and assessed how to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some of those homeowners became mired in even more challenges: They learned that title to their home wasn’t officially theirs.
The classroom at the Renaissance Community Loan Fund (RCLF) in Gulfport, Mississippi, is usually used for financial advising classes for families and individuals preparing to purchase a home. On Wednesday, it was also a place of celebration as NeighborWorks America welcomed RCLF as its newest affiliate.
When he was first informed he’d been selected by NeighborWorks America for its Dorothy Richardson Award for Resident Leadership, 65-year-old Johnny Carter from rural Moorhead, Mississippi, was shocked. “I’ve never been in a leadership position,” he said.