News

Housing Support awarded $150,000 grant

The LCMS National Housing Support Corp. (NHSC), or Lutheran Housing Support, has been awarded a $150,000 Wells Fargo UrbanLIFT™ grant for the corporation’s ongoing revitalization efforts in St. Louis’ historic College Hill neighborhood.

The grant will be used to purchase nine properties in College Hill, four miles north of downtown St. Louis, and perform demolition and site restoration. The properties will be acquired at market rates, and NHSC will oversee the demolition of existing structures and restoration of the lots to a buildable state, making available new home sites for families of modest means.

The first two Nazareth Homes, built in St. Louis' College Hill neighborhood in 2013. A new $150,000 grant to the LCMS National Housing Support Corp. from Wells Fargo UrbanLIFT™ will be used to purchase and restore nine properties in the College Hill development, which will eventually have 20 homes. (LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford) — The first two Nazareth Homes, built in St. Louis’ College Hill neighborhood in 2013. A new $150,000 grant to the LCMS National Housing Support Corp. from Wells Fargo UrbanLIFT™ will be used to purchase and restore nine properties in the College Hill development, which will eventually have 20 homes. (LCMS Communications/Erik M. Lunsford)

All nine properties are located within NHSC’s planned Nazareth Homes 20-unit development (click here to read a related Reporter Online story), which broke ground last March. Two homes have already been built; one serves as a model and the second is sold. The restored lots will become sites for new homes within the Nazareth Homes development.

“We celebrate this wonderful news!” said Nicole Ridley, NHSC’s chief executive. “The funds will complement our ongoing development and revitalization efforts in College Hill, and will ultimately help further stabilize the neighborhood. We are blessed to have wonderful partners such as Wells Fargo and thankful to all who are supporting our work to make College Hill a healthier, safer and once again vibrant neighborhood.”

UrbanLIFT™, a community grant program funded by Wells Fargo and administered by NeighborWorks America®, is designed to provide support to local nonprofits for neighborhood revitalization projects.

“These grants will help advance community stabilization in cities, like St. Louis, that were significantly impacted by the housing downturn,” said Laraine Davis, community development officer for Wells Fargo in St. Louis. “In St. Louis, the dollars are in addition to the $50,000 Wells Fargo donated last year to help support the Nazareth Homes project. We look forward to seeing NHSC put this grant to work in creating a safer and sustainable neighborhood.”

In College Hill, one of St. Louis’ most impoverished neighborhoods, Nazareth Homes will provide affordable home-ownership opportunities (click here to read more).

To learn more about College Hill and the LCMS National Housing Support Corporation, visit nationalhousingsupport.org.

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Paula Schlueter Ross

Paula Schlueter Ross (1953–2019), former managing editor of Reporter, was a magna cum laude graduate of Webster University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. During her nearly 35-year career with the LCMS, she wrote for both Reporter and The Lutheran Witness and often took photos to accompany her stories. Ross won 17 national writing awards from the Associated Church Press, including seven first-place “Awards of Excellence.”