Supporting the individuals, families, small businesses, and neighborhoods of Biloxi, Mississippi.
Our Mission
The mission of Hope Community Development Agency (established in 2005 as the East Biloxi Coordination, Relief, and Redevelopment Agency) is to support the individuals, families, small businesses, and neighborhoods of Mississippi.
Hope CDA is incorporated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, and, working in concert with community, faith-based and civic organizations, government officials, and private entities, it strives to ensure that the citizens it serves—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or immigration status—achieve self-sufficiency and success in the economic mainstream of society.
Hope CDA pursues its mission by linking clients with direct services, coordinating planning for redevelopment efforts, providing architectural design and technical expertise, and facilitating private sector and community investment.
Community Served
Situated at the eastern tip of a barrier spit in the Gulf of Mexico, largely minority and low-income, Hope’s community of East Biloxi was socially, economically, and physically exposed to Katrina in devastating fashion.
The population of the neighborhood – which contains the city’s historic center – is roughly 40% white, 40% black, 15% Vietnamese, and 5% Latino, with this latter group growing post-storm in the form of migrant construction workers. It is a diverse community, generations-old, and very proud of its character.
It is also challenged. East Biloxi was home to roughly 10,000 of the city’s lowest-wealth residents, with an average median income (pre-Katrina) of $23,527, strikingly less than the statewide average median income of $47,847. Rate of homeownership, while at roughly 50%, is largely the result of homes being passed down for several generations. A flagging local economy has led to an underinsured and dilapidated housing stock, especially exposed to devastation.
