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Release Date: November 20, 2007
New Orleans, LA. -- Donald E. Powell, the president’s top official for Gulf Coast rebuilding, today toured a newly built affordable housing unit with members of the Harvard University Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Fellowship in Social Entrepreneurship.
Powell addressed more than 25 fellows after touring the private residence at 4012 Hollygrove Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. He emphasized the importance of critical partnerships between government and private entities in rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.
“This country has never seen anything like Katrina. Historians and academia will tell you that catastrophes emphasize and expose what was there before. I would challenge you to public service that will change the course,” Powell said.
The federal government has committed $117 billion toward the recovery and rebuilding of the entire Gulf Coast.* The affordable housing unit visited by Powell was built by developer Neal Morris, utilizing federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), made available through the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act and is estimated to equal approximately $1.7 billion in financing for Louisiana.
“We have a historic opportunity to improve peoples’ lives by de-concentrating poverty and creating hopeful neighborhoods where families can thrive,” Powell added.
The Reynolds Foundation Fellowships are designed to equip individuals for national leadership positions that bring real-world insights of management and entrepreneurship to bear on social problems.
For the last two years, the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding has been engaged in facilitating and streamlining various components of the recovery effort, providing key federal support and resources to local leaders, and reinforcing the federal government's commitment to the people of the Gulf Coast.
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* Replaced $110 billion with $117 billion
This page was last modified on November 20, 2007