Kathy Laborde
President
GCHP (Gulf Coast Housing Partnership)
GCHP is a mission-based regional real estate development company based in New Orleans that focuses on the production of affordable and mixed-income communities and complementary commercial and community space. GCHP was established in 2006 when the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina exposed the lack of affordable housing options in the Gulf Coast. Since then, the company has worked with 51 partners in 13 communities to develop or preserve more than 3,600 affordable homes and over 400,000 square feet of commercial facilities in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
What are you most excited about for the coming year?
We are excited about the continued advancement of our healthcare and housing work that combines affordable housing with accessible healthcare and applying lessons learned from our resiliency demonstration venture in Lockport. We have a great team, we are passionate about what we do and we are excited about expanding our work throughout the region.
What is the biggest challenge facing your industry today?Â
It seems that the cost to construct and insure our developments is a forever challenge! Building the multilayered capital stack required to put units on the ground can take years, and it often feels like we are chasing our tails. Simply put, we need more resources to respond to the needs of the people we serve.