FERRIDAY &8212; The 10-home subdivision Macon Ridge Community Development Corporation is planning to build on the north end of town is more than a step in its effort to improve the community.

The development marks a shift in the way it goes about providing quality, affordable and attractive low- and moderate- income housing to the families in its eight-parish service area.

But the group&8217;s mission hasn&8217;t changed.

&8220;People have been working for nine years and haven&8217;t had the opportunity for home ownership,&8221; Vice President Windell Millicks said.

&8220;We take them from the start of the application process through to the completion of construction.&8221;

The new subdivision, to be located on 4.43 acres on the south side of the Louisiana Technical College on U.S. 65, is awaiting zoning approval from the Ferriday Board of Alderman and a thumbs-up from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will provide one percent interest mortgages of up to $127,000 for people to buy sites and build homes.

Lots will average 90 feet by 100 feet and sell for approximately $10-12,000, Millicks said.

After that, Macon Ridge will work with the buyer to custom-build a home.

&8220;They pick plans, choose colors, designs, flooring, everything,&8221; Millicks said.

If the new subdivision is anything like its past work on individual houses, new homeowner Pamela Martin knows there will be 10 satisfied customers soon.

Martin, the mother of two said she had been looking for a home for two years and Macon Ridge helped make it happen.

&8220;It wasn&8217;t really hard because they helped me so much,&8221; she said.

Martin, a Certified Nursing Assistant, said she had been living in a trailer with her mother and two children, loved her new home and wasn&8217;t worried about the 30-year mortgage she is obligated to through the USDA&8217;s 502 Direct Lending Program.

&8220;It&8217;s no big deal because they showed me how to do everything,&8221; Martin, 21, said.

Millicks, who said the default rate among Macon Ridge homeowners is zero percent, said that&8217;s the whole idea.

&8220;Not only do we want to put them in a home,&8221; he said. &8220;We want to help them keep the home.&8221;

To that end, William Singleton, director of single-family housing, said the cost of the project &8212; and the ensuing mortgage payment &8212; is tabulated with each choice to make sure a family builds within its means.

As far as means, Singleton said he works hard to help those who might not otherwise qualify for bank financing get a mortgage through Macon Ridge.

&8220;We&8217;re willing to work with anyone who is willing to work with us,&8221; Singleton said.

Helping more people work with them is the idea behind the subdivision.

&8220;We&8217;ve been doing scattered- site homes, and now we&8217;re getting into subdivision development,&8221; Program Development Director Margie Hines said. &8220;We&8217;re to that point in our strategic plan.&8221;

The plan Hines referred to is a five-year plan that includes construction of 140 single-family homes in the region, as well as ten 14-unit elderly housing developments &8212; similar to the Ferriday Leisure Estates it built and operates &8212; and six single-family rental units.

The group hasn&8217;t totally abandoned its original method of rehabilitating blighted homes, either, as 35 of those are in the plan.

All of Macon Ridge&8217;s building projects are funded and or backed individually by a state or federal agency; the group takes a $5,000 developer fee per house and receives operating funds through the USDA, Housing and Urban Development, Entergy, the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency and other groups.

Millicks said they are pre-qualifying applicants now and hope to have the lots sold by the time the USDA approves the project. Anyone interested can contact Macon Ridge at (318) 757-2361.