Southern Mutual Help Association, Inc.

New Iberia's West End District is rich in cultural and historic significance.  Unfortunately, decades of neglect and disinvestment have resulted in its reputation of drugs, poverty, and crime.  Despite these ills, there reside in the West End residents who recall the bustling, thriving era when Ike and Tina Turner performed there.  Southern Mutual Help Association has been working with citizens of the West End, partnering organizations, and governmental representatives to restore the economic, cultural, and wholesome characteristics that this area not so long ago possessed.

SMHA connects families to affordable mortgage capital through our affiliate, Southern Mutual Financial Services, Inc. (certified by the U. S. Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution) and through our partnerships with community lenders and, when appropriate, U.S.D.A. Rural Housing Service. SMHA also makes principal-reduction/closing-cost assistance grants available to help families purchase their first home for little or no money down. SMHA’s homeownership activities occur within a framework of comprehensive Family and Community Development that provides homeowners and prospective homeowners with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve homeownership, keep their homes, and continue to build family wealth.A licensed residential contractor in the State of Louisiana, SMHA builds new homes and rehabilitates owner-occupied homes