IHC's Journey

Where it all began...

Shortly after Hurricane Ivan hit the Gulf's Emerald Coast on September 16, 2004, Catholic Bishop John Ricard and other prominent leaders of the faith communities of Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties in NW Florida, came together to determine how they might best serve the community in the long term recovery process.

By the time Hurricane Dennis had hit the same areas one year later, more than 53,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed including more than 2,000 rental units. Peoples' lives had been turned upside down, and the community was in crisis. Hurricane Ivan followed by Hurricane Dennis had an immediate impact on housing affordability.

While incomes remained flat, rents and home prices skyrocketed after the storm and are only just now leveling off. Insurance costs have doubled, tripled, or more - if homeowners and renters can get insurance at all. Construction materials costs have increased and many contractors have moved west to Hurricane Katrina rebuilding.

Access to affordable housing had been a critical issue prior to the storms and can accurately be described as a crisis now. To help meet the need for decent, safe, and sanitary housing that is affordable to low-income families and individuals, The Interfaith Housing Coalition of Northwest Florida was created.

The Interfaith Housing Coaltion of Northwest Florida:
Building communities
through the creation of
quality affordable homes.

History of  IHC Activities

• The Interfaith Housing Coalition of Northwest Florida (IHC) began meeting on a regular basis in December 2004.
  
• In September 2005 IHC hired Bill Compton as Director of Housing resonsible for the development of housing. Bill has ten years of progressively responsible experience in housing and community development. This position has been funded through a grant from Catholic Charities USA
  
• During the last quarter of 2005, IHC developed Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws and became a Florida corporation on February 9, 2006.
  
• IHC became a tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) corporation retroactive to the date of incorporation.
  
• IHC hired the Rev. Cherie Isakson, a Presbyterian minister, as Community Development Director in September 2006. This position serves as the public face of the organization, responsible for community outreach, inter-relationships with the faith community, and the
  continuing development of the local capital campaign.
  
• It has identified a 26.31 acre tract of land suitable for the development of affordable housing and is moving forward with acquisition, due diligence, and other predevelopment activities.
  
• IHC has engaged a design team of Quina Grundhoefer Architects and Architectural Affairs (Michelle McNeil) who will work together to design to communitiy master plan.
  
• IHC has engaged the firm of Zimmerman/Volk Associates, Inc. to perform an extensive market analysis.
  
• IHC has begun clearing brush from the land so an accurate tree-survey can be performed ensuring that the designers can incorporate the many large trees on the site into the master plan.
  
• The Escambia Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on August 16 to commit funding in the amount of $2,780,000 for Journey infrastructure! This was a vital next step in moving the community forward toward groundbreaking.
• The Rev. Cherie Isakson moved to Shalimar, FL  in November, 2007 to take a position as clergy with the Presbyterian Church.

Commitments for the  Future

• Begin community input sessions to elicit the hopes and concerns from the surrounding neighborhood residents. 
• It will identify and acquire additional suitable land for development of affordable housing throughout Escamia and Santa Rosa counties.
• It will create housing for homeownership targeted toward greater Pensacola's workforce households and first-time homebuyers whose incomes are at or below 80% of area median income (HUD standards call this "low income").
• It will create housing for renters targeted toward households whose incomes are at or below 60% of area median income.
• It will strive to ensure that the housing it creates is of the very best quality, as well as being energy efficient, and that IHC communities will reflect a stewardship towards the environment.
• It will do more than just build housing units - it will create vibrant communities with a mix of incomes and uses.
• It will strive to create communities that are walkable and accessible for young and old alike.

Lessons Learned  for the Future

Patience, patience, patience. Whether in immediate disaster response or in long term disaster recovery, we have learned that patience must be our mantra.

Immediate disaster response is all about meeting basic human needs - water, food, shelter, and the needs of the most vulnerable, the very young and the elderly. If immediate disaster response is triage stabilizing the patient, then long term recovery is reconstructive surgery and physical rehabilitation. As we all know, this effort on which IHC is focused is a much longer process.

IHC takes comfort from others that have gone before us in other parts of the country. In speaking with our peers who worked to rebuild communities in South Florida and Coastal Louisiana after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, we learn that they think we have achieved great things:

• we have an active organization
• we have a local interfaith board committed to this arduous task of learning the complexities of housing development and neighborhood design
• we have experienced and dedicated staff
• we have a significant tract of land upon which to build a new community
• we are grateful for benefactors and grantors
• and we are blessed to have the strong leadership of Bishop John Ricard whose vision launched this effort.