Auburn University Celebrates 30 Years of Rural Community Partnership

By Candace Higginbotham

Auburn University Rural Studio has had much to celebrate so far in 2024.

It commemorated its 30th anniversary earlier this year and announced it had received grant funding to create affordable housing to aid tornado recovery efforts in Selma, Alabama. Regions provided matching funds for the Selma affordable housing initiative and has been working alongside Rural Studio for much of its three-decade history.

Rural Studio: Citizen Architects

In 1993, Auburn University architecture faculty members Samuel Mockbee and D.K. Ruth cofounded Rural Studio, a design-build architectural education program headquartered two and half hours from campus in Hale County, Alabama. The program, part of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, was built around the concept of community service learning and aligns with the university’s mission as a land-grant institution.

The program encourages students to use their skills to better their communities – to become citizen architects. Rural Studio and its projects have been featured in thousands of publications, honored with prestigious awards, and have been shown in museum exhibits across the world.

But more importantly to faculty leaders and students – and communities throughout the South –Rural Studio has built more than 220 projects in Alabama’s Black Belt and educated more than 1,200 students about sustainable, healthful rural living through both housing and the vital systems that ensure communities thrive.

Regions is proud of our long history with Auburn University’s Rural Studio, and we continue to support their innovative work to solve the unique challenges of providing attainable, sustainable homes for people in rural areas. 

Leroy Abrahams, Head of Community Engagement for Regions

And thanks to relationships with community organizations, public and private companies and local, state and federal government agencies, Rural Studio programs have expanded beyond the state to assist individuals and families who may not have otherwise had the opportunity for homeownership.

According to Regions Head of Community Engagement Leroy Abrahams, Regions Bank is pleased to be part of that journey.

“Affordable housing is key focus of our community engagement strategy,” Abrahams said. “Regions’ 15-state retail footprint includes many areas that are several miles from the nearest city, and serving rural communities is an important part of our business.

“Regions is proud of our long history with Auburn University’s Rural Studio, and we continue to support their innovative work to solve the unique challenges of providing attainable, sustainable homes for people in rural areas.”

Front Porch Initiative

Regions’ relationship with Rural Studio began with the 20K Project, a housing affordability research project that began in 2004 when students were tasked with designing a home that costs no more than $20,000 in materials and labor. Innovative plans were developed with a thoughtful approach to space, site and materials.

But it soon became clear to program participants and leaders that building a financially attainable home in under-resourced areas is more complicated than just the cost of building materials and labor. Factors such as insurance, utilities, water and sewage – as well as local economic issues, such as job availability – have a big impact on a family’s ability to pay a monthly mortgage.

Rural Studio’s housing affordability work evolved into a larger research project, called the Front Porch Initiative, involving national partnerships and municipal stakeholders to collaborate on issues around infrastructure and services. Regions was one of those collaborators, providing consultation and know-how to help find financial solutions for potential homeowners. Bank teams, led by now-retired former Community Reinvestment Act Officer and Head of Community Affairs Jon Davies and others, stepped in to make introductions and facilitate conversations between Rural Studio and Fannie Mae, the U.S. government sponsored enterprise that works to expand access to affordable housing.

“It was clear to us early on that Regions and Auburn’s Rural Studio had similar objectives when it comes to ensuring that everyone has access to high quality, affordable housing,” said Paul Carruthers, a Regions Community Development manager who introduced the program to the bank. “We were pleased to provide financial support and technical assistance in those early days to help expand their reach.”

The 20K Project was a critical point in the evolution of Rural Studio’s work. Many of those home plans are still being used today.

“The initial capacity-building grant from Regions contributed to our early growth,” said Rusty Smith, Associate Director of Rural Studio. “And the technical expertise and thought partnership the bank provided helped build our relationships with Fannie Mae and other organizations – that was a real game-changer. That’s when we started recognizing the program’s potential.”

Growing Community Partnerships

Regions was also instrumental in helping Rural Studio expand its scope and make an impact on communities outside Hale County.

In 2021, Regions and Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative worked with Affordable Housing Resources (AHR) in Nashville to bring four Rural Studio-designed homes to Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.

What made this project noteworthy is that, thanks to Nashville’s zoning laws, two homes could be constructed on one lot. This innovative use of land and construction made homeownership possible in a housing market where property costs have skyrocketed, pricing out many potential residents.

In 2022, Front Porch Initiative began working with Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity on a build in Marianna, Florida, to aid in recovery efforts from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 hurricane that hit the Florida panhandle a few years before. The team provided designs that meet efficiency standards and are built to sustain hurricane-force winds.

To reduce the financial burden for Habitat for Humanity and to free up capital to make additional community investments, Regions bankers worked with Fannie Mae to pilot a lending arrangement in which the bank would originate the mortgage loan and then sell the loan to Fannie Mae. The program also included a unique feature that allowed the sweat equity built into the houses to be valued as a contribution to the downpayment.

“We were so happy to be a part of the Chipola project,” said Lara Smith, manager of Regions Mortgage Investor Management. “Building those four homes was important to the families and the impacted community. But it’s especially meaningful that we created unique financial solutions – sustainable support – that will continue to help more families in the future.”

Tornado Recovery in Selma

The Selma affordable housing initiative, announced in April, is the most recent collaboration between Regions and the Auburn Rural Studio. For this project, Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative is partnering with the City of Selma and other state and municipal agencies, using funds from a $500,000 USDA grant and matching contributions from Regions and other organizations, to aid in recovery from a destructive tornado that hit the area early last year.

The program will develop sustainable, affordable and high-performance housing, utilizing vacant and blighted infill lots while also providing training and technical assistance.

Auburn University Assistant Research Professor Mackenzie Stagg, Rural Studio’s project leader in Selma, explained the importance of those three components, saying “Homeownership is a major focus – we want to provide an opportunity for residents to achieve this important milestone.” And it’s critical that the houses can withstand harsh weather conditions, particularly following the terrible tornado that hit the area recently.

We want to enhance both homeowner and community resilience. By building back better on vacant parcels in the disaster-affected neighborhood, we aim to provide needed housing while strengthening the neighborhood and providing opportunities that positively impact the local economy. 

Mackenzie Stagg, Assistant Research Professor at Auburn University

“We want to enhance both homeowner and community resilience. By building back better on vacant parcels in the disaster-affected neighborhood, we aim to provide needed housing while strengthening the neighborhood and providing opportunities that positively impact the local economy.”

Abrahams said that Regions is excited about the new collaboration, especially in Selma, which is an important market for the bank.

“It’s a historic city, vital to the culture of our state and our country,” he said. “By giving local families the opportunity to acquire safe, affordable homes in thriving areas, we’re not just solving a problem today – we’re helping them begin to build generational wealth that will improve the lives of future individuals and communities.”

Going Forward

Regions’ relationship with Auburn University goes well beyond the Rural Studio collaboration, through endowments, scholarships, financial wellness programs and internships.

One of the primary recipients of that support is the Harbert College of Business. In May, the university hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Auburn in Birmingham, which provides space for the Harbert College of Business and other programs.

The newly refurbished facility is just a few blocks away from Regions Center and will be a hub for teaching, outreach and collaborative work. Regions Head of Corporate Philanthropy and Partnerships Lajuana Bradford attended the opening event and commented on the longstanding community partnership, which will be further enabled by the Birmingham satellite location.

“The Regions Bank-Auburn University relationship is based on shared mission and values, and we have enjoyed many years of working together to make life better for communities across the South,” Bradford said. “We look forward to continuing that work for many years to come.”