Old South Baton Rouge Homes Receive Fresh Coat of Paint & Garden Built at School
Homeowners to receive assistance with home repairs and Polk Elementary to receive a raised vegetable garden from CPEX, LSU and community volunteers on MLK Day.
Baton Rouge (January 17, 2011) – On Monday, January 17 from 9am-4pm, two Old South Baton Rouge (OSBR) residences will receive a fresh coat of paint and Polk Elementary will receive an on-site vegetable garden. As part of the fourth round of their OSBR Home Rehabilitation Grant program, Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) will partner with Louisiana State University Community University Partnership and LSU Office of Multicultural Affairs to paint the exterior of the homes located on Thomas H. Delpit. The Polk Elementary garden comes as part of CPEX’s burgeoning Community Gardens Initiative. The events will take place in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The first three rounds of the Home Rehabilitation program successfully repaired ten homes in OSBR. After an overwhelming number of applications and a substantial increase in grant funding from the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, at least ten more homes will be rehabilitated primarily in OSBR and in Scotlandville. This competitive grant program is part of a continuing project started by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and the CPEX to bring reinvestment to OSBR, the historic community between LSU and downtown.
Boo Thomas, Executive Director for CPEX stated, “It is a great opportunity for our Home Rehab Program to help repair owner-occupied homes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, nurturing the spirit of community service and recognizing the pride of this historic community.” The Home Rehabilitation grants are funded by Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, NeighborWorks America, the East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance Authority, Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors, Capital One, Chase. The Community Gardens are funded by NeighborWorks America, the Home Depot Foundation, Chase and Capital One.
Meant to engage all members of the community, build capacity and provide access to healthy foods, the Community Gardens Initiative has already brought two gardens to Old South, and another is underway for a total of three new vegetable and flower gardens. The New Ark Baptist Church, the Garden at South Boulevard & 12th Street, and a new garden on McKinley Street are successful CPEX partnership gardens, involving the community and church members, South Garden Project, LSU AgCenter, City Year, Baton Rouge Green, LSU Hilltop Arboretum and members of the South Baton Rouge Civic Association. The coming Spring will see many more school, community and church gardens come to fruition in OSBR.
These programs were initiated in 2005, following the creation of a master plan for the neighborhood. In accordance with the OSBR Neighborhood and Economic Revitalization Strategy, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, in partnership with CPEX, focuses on revitalizing existing residences and businesses, while integrating mixed-income housing and multi-use development into the area. More information about the community gardens initiative and the Home Rehabilitation grant program, including applications, are available online at www.cpex.org or by calling (225) 267-6300.
To volunteer, please call Susan Ludwig or Marcelle Boudreaux at (225) 267-6300.
