Across the Midwest, MHP delivers crucial work to preserve rural rental housing through the USDA Rural Rental Housing Loans Section 515 program (also known as USDA RD 515). Oftentimes, this program is the only pathway for rental opportunities in rural communities. However, a majority of these loans are maturing, or ending, in the next decades, putting these developments on the market to be bought by for-profit organizations. Without MHP’s partnership, hundreds of Americans could be displaced from their homes.  

With the assistance of MHP, under the terms of a purchase agreement currently under negotiation, Swift County HRA intends to acquire the property for one dollar and assume the existing USDA RD 515 mortgage. This mortgage transfer will allow the HRA to preserve the 22 rental assistance units tied to the loan. The HRA plans to supplement this with an application for the remaining two rental assistance units to ensure further affordability for current and future tenants. 

The acquisition will be followed by a significant rehabilitation effort. To finance the renovation, MHP assisted the HRA in preparing funding applications to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines’ Affordable Housing Program and Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, with assistance from legal counsel Angela Christy and Blumenthals Architecture to complete all required documentation. These funds will improve the property’s amenities and livability for tenants, such as community and office spaces. 

As part of the funding commitments, the HRA remains dedicated to serving low-income households, ensuring community members will stay safe in their homes for another 30 years. 

This spring, MHP returned to Marianna, Florida to support Chipola Habitat for Humanity as it moves from vision to implementation on a new 9-acre housing development.

Through this Rural Capacity Building engagement, MHP worked alongside local leaders, including the city manager, county administrator, potential development partners, and a local engineering firm, to help build the partnerships and coordination needed to move the project forward. MHP also facilitated a board training and led a discussion about the development process, helping the organization prepare for the next phase of work.

Earlier in the project, MHP supported a master planning process led by a Black-owned architecture firm in Tallahassee. The resulting plan envisions 59 new homes with a mix of price points, incomes, ownership opportunities, and rental homes.

Just as importantly, local leaders see the development as an opportunity to strengthen connections across the community, creating a bridge between neighboring Black and white neighborhoods in Marianna.

By the end of the visit, Chipola Habitat for Humanity had more than a plan on paper. The organization left with stronger local partnerships, a clearer path through the development process, and the tools needed to move this vision toward reality.

As one local leader reflected, “The engine runs based on partnership.” Another shared:

“It’s always a privilege to work with a partner like MHP. Because of your work across the country, there are people and resources we know now that we never would have connected with otherwise.”

For many older adults, staying in the home they already have is the key to stability, health, and independence. But small repair needs can become major barriers — especially in rural communities where repair services and resources are harder to access.

MHP is working alongside Hope Renovations, a North Carolina nonprofit that helps older adults remain safely in their homes through critical repairs and accessibility improvements. Their aging-in-place work focuses on low-cost, high-impact repairs that make homes safer while preserving existing housing that remains affordable to the community.

Through MHP’s support, Hope Renovations is strengthening its program capacity and expanding its reach into surrounding rural areas, allowing the organization to serve more homeowners and complete more repair projects. This work helps prevent displacement, protects existing housing, and ensures that older adults can continue living in the communities they call home.

Hope Renovations also pairs repair projects with hands-on construction training that expands opportunities in the skilled trades for people who have been underrepresented in the field. This model both increases the organization’s repair capacity and helps build the workforce needed to support housing stability in the future.

By combining housing preservation, workforce development, and expanded geographic reach, this partnership is helping more households stay safe in their homes while strengthening communities across the region.