WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Howell County Public Housing Authority has received a grant to help
support the regional Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.
The $12,000 grant, $9,000 of which is made up of 3:1 matching funds through the Impact Fund of the
Federal Home Loan Bank in Des Moines, Iowa, was presented to the PHA on Wednesday, July 29 at the
main office of Ozark Action Inc. (OAI), 710 E. Main, West Plains. The Howell County PHA, which is
under the umbrella of Ozark Action, was nominated for the grant by Great Southern Bank in West Plains.
“This is a wonderful surprise for our agency and for our program,” stated Ed Button, Director of the
Howell County PHA and Ozark Action’s Housing Division. “We’re currently developing a plan to use
this money to help the maximum amount of people we can.”
“No single organization can meet every challenge alone,” stated Ozark Action Executive Director Terry
Sanders. “We work closely with community partners, like Great Southern Bank, to maximize resources,
strengthen coordination and build strong communities.”
The Member Impact Fund is a matching grant program that encourages partnerships between eligible
FHLB Des Moines member financial institutions and an eligible grantee, which includes not-for-profit
organizations or government entities that have a mission of promoting affordable housing or community
development, according to the FHLB website. This program is offered as part of the bank’s voluntary
contributions, designed to increase support for underserved and financially vulnerable populations.
The Housing Choice Voucher program helps offset rent costs for low-income residents, including seniors
and people with disabilities. Eligibility is based on income, legal status, and family size, with an income
limit of $27,150 per year for a single-person household and $38,750 for a family of four. The OAI HCV
program operates in Howell, Oregon, Ozark, Texas, Wright, and Shannon Counties, with the exceptions
of the cities of West Plains and Cabool, which have their own PHAs.
In the last year the OAI HCV program, along with other housing voucher programs administered by
Ozark Action and the Howell County PHA, helped offset the cost of nearly 4,100 months of rent for over
330 households.
“People who receive vouchers through the program are typically the working poor – those who have one
or more jobs but still struggle to make ends meet – or the elderly receiving Social Security. Our program
helps them and others in need stay in safe, affordable housing,” Button stated.
Button added that right now is a critical time for the program. “Our clients are desperately needing
landlords who have safe, affordable housing available to rent. Since the pandemic we’ve seen the housing
stock we can operate in throughout the region dwindle as material prices rise, pricing out some of the
smaller landlords who now can’t afford some of the needed repairs on their units, or out-of-state buyers
either renting them for amounts outside of the HUD’s guidelines or turning them into Airbnb or Vrbo
locales. While we appreciate visitors to the region, we can’t forget the folks who work here and call our
beautiful region home.”
If you need help with your rent or if you are a landlord who would like more information on the program,
call Ozark Action at 417-256-6147, visit www.oaiwp.org/housing, or email HUD@oaiwp.org.
