Federal government awards Louisville affordable housing nonprofit $6.36 million

New Directions, a Louisville affordable housing nonprofit, received a $6.36 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Green and Resilient Retrofit Program to fund energy-efficient upgrades in more than 100 units.

The nonprofit has 913 units housing more than 1,300 people in Louisville and Southern Indiana. The average income for residents is under $10,000 annually, said Lori Hudson Flanery, the New Directions president and chief executive officer.

Some 106 units across 13 locations in the Shawnee, Chickasaw and Old Louisville neighborhoods will receive renovations including new kitchens, flooring HVACs, bathrooms and windows with the HUD grant money.

Hudson Flanery said the improvements will reduce the cost of utilities by at least 25%.

The renovations are meant to ensure "long-term sustainability and increased climate resilience," according to a statement from New Directions. It was one of 10 projects in the U.S. funded with this batch of HUD money, which is provided through President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

However, the nonprofit still needs to secure an additional $8.25 million in funding for the project to kick off. They expect to secure the rest of the money by the end of 2024.

"Today marks a transformative milestone in our efforts to secure funding for a massive renovation project aimed at enhancing the lives of our residents," Hudson Flanery said. "We are not just renovating buildings; we are revitalizing hope, dignity and opportunity for those most under-resourced in our community. This grant gets us closer to securing enough funding to begin the second phase of our massive renovation plan.”

Over time, the organization aims to secure $145 million to spend on other renovations and new affordable housing units.

The Monday announcement was made alongside Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon, HUD Deputy Regional Administrator Tiffany Cobb and Mayor Craig Greenberg.

"Making affordable housing more energy efficient and more climate resilient is going to take this kind of partnership," Gordon said. "It takes all of us at the federal level, state and local communities.”

Greenberg agreed and said he hopes to continue partnering with the federal government in the future.

"There's a lot we want to do working together with HUD over the coming years to achieve our goals of building more affordable housing across our city and I know that we'll do just that," Greenberg said.

The Louisville mayor has repeatedly voiced his goal to build or preserve 15,000 affordable housing units in his first term. Despite an increase in available homes, Louisville's affordable housing shortage is getting worse for the city's lowest-income residents, according to a new report. Greenberg remains steadfast in his goal, saying while it is ambitious, it is necessary to make progress.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.