SLIDELL, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A disabled couple from Slidell, Louisiana, has more accessibility in their home thanks to the Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP).
Laura Capello said she learned about SNAP through St. Tammany Parish’s Community Action Agency and decided to apply. Both Ms. Capello, 70, and her husband, Lynn, 73, are disabled.
SNAP grants assist income-qualified, special-needs homeowners with necessary home repairs and modifications. The grants are awarded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) through participating member institutions, such as Whitney Bank.
A $4,999 grant provided the necessary funding to provide a walk-in shower and other home improvements. Ms. Capello said SNAP enabled the couple to obtain renovations to their home that they needed.
“Preserving safe, decent housing can become difficult for elderly or disabled homeowners with limited resources. The SNAP grant program is a much-needed funding source for Louisiana’s elderly and disabled residents, who often are living on fixed incomes,” said Whitney Bank AVP and Community Affairs Officer Ashley Aubrey Harrison. “SNAP is a wonderful program, and we are pleased that residents in our community have benefited from it.”
Since SNAP’s inception in 2009, more than $11.6 million has been awarded in grants through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) member institutions to assist more than 2,300 families across FHLB Dallas’ five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. In 2016, FHLB Dallas awarded nearly $1 million in SNAP grants that assisted 205 families. The $1.5 million in 2017 SNAP funding, made available in January on a first-come, first-served basis, has been exhausted.
“Our members, including Whitney Bank, have been committed to helping their communities through use of SNAP funding,” said Greg Hettrick, first vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. “We commend them for their dedication to the residents of the communities they serve.”
To learn more about SNAP, visit fhlb.com/snap.
About Whitney Bank
Part of Hancock Holding Company’s Gulf South financial services family, Whitney Bank locations in Louisiana and Texas and Hancock Bank locations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida provide comprehensive financial products and services, including traditional and online banking; commercial and small business banking; private banking; trust and investment services; certain insurance services; and mortgage services. The company also operates a loan production office in Nashville, Tennessee. BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation’s leading independent bank rating and analysis firm, has rated the bank among the most financially sound U.S. banks and credits unions for 111 consecutive quarters—almost 28 years in a row—as of March 31, 2017. More information is available at www.hancockwhitney.com.
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $62.9 billion as of June 30, 2017, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community investment by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 850 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit fhlb.com.
