Ninety-five million people in the United States—one-third of the nation—have housing problems, including lack of affordability, overcrowding, unsafe conditions, and homelessness.
• Two billion people worldwide live in poverty housing, including 5.1 million American families who need a hand up, not a hand out.
 
Quick Facts about the Metro Jackson area:
• 24% of all families with children under 18 in the Metro Jackson area have income less than the poverty level.  (2000 Census)
• In Nehemiah Project neighborhoods 40% of all families with children under 18 have income less than the poverty level. (2000 Census)
• 2002 Census data shows that only 17% of inner city residents can afford the median priced home ($114,000)
• Mississippi has the highest rate of sub-prime lending in the country. (Mary Elizabeth Evans and Edward Sivak, National Crisis Hits Home:  Addressing Mississippi’s Mortgage Foreclosures, Jackson, MS:  Mississippi Economic Policy Center, 2008.)
 
Creating Hope:
• Children of homeowners are less likely than children of renters to drop out of high school or to have children while teenagers.  These effects are largest for children of low-income households (Green & White, 1997)
• Children of homeowners perform better on both reading and math tests and have reduced behavioral problems.  (Essen, 1978 and Haurin, Parcel & Haurin, 2000)