/PRNewswire/ - BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc. (NYSE: BXS), a $13.5 billion-asset financial holding company, recently joined with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) to provide a $220,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to the University of Southern Mississippi Institute for Disability Studies (IDS). The grant will assist in IDS's efforts to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to qualified, special needs homebuyers in Forrest County, Mississippi.

The grant funds will provide 12 low-income, special needs homebuyers with $11,000 to assist with down payment and closing cost expenses on a new or existing home. All qualified recipients will be first-time homebuyers, and $500 of each grant will be applied toward required first-time homebuyer counseling and financial literacy courses.

IDS has utilized the AHP since 1996 to assist special needs families in Hattiesburg and surrounding areas. AHP funds are available through FHLB Dallas member institutions, such as BancorpSouth, to assist in the development of affordable, owner-occupied and rental housing for very low- to moderate-income households primarily across FHLB Dallas's five-state District of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas.

Cassie Hicks of Hattiesburg, coordinator for housing initiatives at IDS, said the process of choosing recipients for the grant money has begun, and IDS hopes to start awarding the funds to eligible homebuyers by summer 2011.

"We are currently in the process of interviewing the recipient families," Hicks said. "There is such a significant need in our area to help low-income, special needs households obtain safe and decent housing. Many of our applicants are living in homes that are considered well beyond sub-standard living conditions. We have depended on BancorpSouth for many years to assist us in obtaining AHP grants to fund this program, and without their support, so many of our applicants would have no other means out of their current living situation."

BancorpSouth Vice President Evelyn Edwards of Jackson has worked with IDS and Hicks for many years to obtain FHLB Dallas's grant funds.

"BancorpSouth is pleased to participate in such a meaningful project which turns the dream of home ownership into reality for qualified first-time home buyers. It is especially nice that we are able to do this in our headquarters state of Mississippi. Our partnership with FHLB Dallas is strong and makes grants such as these possible," Edwards said.

In its continued efforts to meet the needs of its members and the communities they serve, FHLB Dallas is offering $10.5 million in AHP funding for projects in 2011. The 2011 recipients will be announced in this summer.

Each year, FHLB Dallas returns 10 percent of its profits to support the AHP. In 2010, FHLB Dallas awarded $18.5 million through its member institutions in the form of AHP grants, the largest amount since the program's inception in 1990. Approximately, $6.2 million of the 2010 AHP funds were allocated to projects in Mississippi to assist in the creation or renovation of 851 units within the state.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $39.7 billion as of December 31, 2010, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to more than 900 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit the FHLB Dallas website at fhlb.com.

About BancorpSouth

BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with approximately $13.5 billion in assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 312 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. BancorpSouth Bank also operates an insurance location in Illinois. BancorpSouth's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BXS.

Bancorp South

Bancorp South

BancorpSouth, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, with approximately $13.5 billion in assets. BancorpSouth Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BancorpSouth, Inc., operates approximately 312 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas. BancorpSouth Bank also operates an insurance location in Illinois. BancorpSouth's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BXS.

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