Building, Establishing, and Nurturing Hope in Evansville, IN

HOPE of Evansville’s mission is to provide, promote, and sustain affordable housing and credit counseling opportunities for low-to-moderate income families in Evansville, IN, and the surrounding area.

History of HOPE

HOPE of Evansville, Inc. (HOPE) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 HUD-certified housing counseling and development agency that was created on November 22, 1967, to address the housing and homeownership needs of low-income clients. Our current mission statement is as follows: “To provide, promote and sustain affordable housing and credit counseling opportunities to low-to-moderate income families.” Initially, HOPE operated as an all-volunteer organization until 1970 when the first staff was hired and an office was established.

Currently, the primary services offered by HOPE include housing development under the Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program; loss mitigation, foreclosure prevention, and post-purchase counseling; pre-purchase homebuyer education classes; down payment assistance in the form of forgivable grants; and credit counseling. In addition to our pre-purchase educational program for first-time homebuyers, we also assist and counsel those clients who have credit problems, deficiencies, and/or excessive debt with the end goal of getting them qualified for a home mortgage.

In 2006 HOPE entered into an innovative and unique operating partnership agreement with another local not-for-profit organization, Our Greater Community, Inc. (OGC). The purpose of this partnership was to combine the administrative oversight of two separate agencies into one to maximize the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of both entities and to coordinate a $1 million neighborhood revitalization grant received from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA). OGC had been designated by the City of Evansville as a partner and developer of new single-family homes in their neighborhood revitalization initiative named Front Door Pride and was recently re-branded by the new city administration as the Evansville Arts District.

Effective October 1, 2008, OGC and HOPE officially merged into one agency, keeping the HOPE name and federal ID number. HOPE became much stronger financially as it absorbed the assets of OGC but did not add significant operating costs, creating a much more efficient operation. HOPE continued the housing development partnership with the city began under OGC.

From 2007-2013, HOPE has developed 20 new single-family homes under the Arts District neighborhood revitalization initiative, as well as the extensive renovation of an historic home in 2012. In addition, HOPE applied for and received a $10 million tax credit allocation to fund the development of 40 new homes in the Arts District revitalization area, well as the renovation of an historic building for the leasing office under a lease-purchase program titled Homes of Evansville. That project was completed in 2013 and now houses low-income families who must be below 60% of the area median income to qualify. The total project budget for Homes of Evansville was $9.4 million.

The Arts District initiative (formerly Front Door Pride) was previously identified as the city’s primary housing development objective in their HUD Consolidated Plans. It involved an extensive neighborhood revitalization and stabilization program designed to be a first step in starting the process of rebuilding neighborhoods in Evansville and promoting safe and decent affordable housing.

HOPE has used CDBG & HOME Partnership grants awarded by the City of Evansville for over 20 years for down-payment and closing-cost assistance to eligible households. Among other requirements, applicants must meet income guidelines, complete an 8-hour pre-purchase class and agree to live in the home for 5 or 10 years without selling or refinancing the property. There are no payments required or interest applied to the forgivable loans during the affordability period. Predatory and variable-rate mortgages have never been and will never be allowed under our guidelines.

In the Fall of 2018, HOPE was awarded a $12 million tax credit allocation to build an additional 60 new units of affordable housing for Homes of Evansville 2. This development includes a 30-unit apartment building, where a portion of the units are reserved for those considered chronically homeless. These units were completed in the Fall of 2021.

In 2019, HOPE was awarded HOME funds from DMD to begin construction on another home in Evansville on the north end at 101 E Tennessee. This portion of the city has been designated a Promise Zone and exhibits a great need for housing developments. This development, completed in 2021, signified a shift in focus from the Haynie’s Corner area to the Jacobsville Neighborhood.

On November 22, 2022—HOPE’s 55th anniversary—HOPE purchased the former Burger King restaurant at 900 N. Main St and will rehabilitate the building to be the new office for HOPE of Evansville staff.

Currently, HOPE has plans to develop three additional homes in the Jacobsville neighborhood. These developments will be completed with federal and private grants.