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Famous Alabama city gives away FREE home as it tries to fight being the state's fastest-shrinking town
Selma, Alabama, has been fighting the decrease of its population, but one family has given the community a fun story worth telling.
Selma residents Tamicka Newberry and her husband, Kennard Randolph, currently live in a free house they won in a raffle drawing on April 18.
Winners of the giveaway organized by the NACA, Selma Housing Authority & Black Belt Community Foundation, the couple accepted their new home just three months after their original house was destroyed in a tornado.
'To relocate, it wasn’t just like we lost our apartment,' Newberry told AL.com earlier this month.
'We lost our family too. I still keep in contact with some of them, but some went here and some went there, so you know, it’s been a journey.'
Selma residents Tamicka Newberry and her husband, Kennard Randolph, became the new homeowners of a house in Selma, Alabama last month
Selma's population has been decreasing for several years, and around 1,800 families were moved to other living locations after a tornado ripped through the town in January 2024.
Most of the Selma residents began living in hotels while they looked for other places to call their home.
Newberry, who relocated after her and Randolph's house was destroyed, revealed in an April 25 YouTube video posted by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) that she moved to another housing complex in Selma.
The Alabama resident still dreamt of having a house of her own in the fastest-shrinking town, which came true after she won the free house from an initiative to revitalize Selma.
'It was awesome. It took me a minute to realize it was my name and then I jumped for joy,' Newberry told AL.com.
Newberry's win is part of a new initiative to build affordable homes in Selma and help it become a foundation for economic and social growth.
Newberry and Randolph's home was destroyed by a hurricane last January, which resulted in them living in another Selma housing complex
'This project definitely is serving as a model. A model for communities of all sizes, honestly, but definitely as a model for rural, disadvantaged small communities,' said Danielle Wooten, who is the planning and development director for Selma.
Wooten added that despite the town's efforts, Selma lost 341 residents from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.
Although this means that Selma suffered a 2 percent decline, the city has not been compiling data on how many families returned to the town after the tornado.
Another notable issue is the housing shortage, which has been an issue in Selma since before the tornado occurred.
'It creates a situation where people cannot live and work in Selma…and the tornado has just exacerbated that crisis,' Wooten told Al.com.
The tornado not only damaged Newberry's home, but it also changed how she felt about where she lived.
Newberry and Randolph won the house as part of a new initiative to build affordable homes in Selma to help with economic and social growth
Newberry had felt like her temporary Selma home was 'a different atmosphere' compared to her living situation before the tornado
'It was just a different atmosphere,' Newberry said regarding her Selma home location after the tornado.
'There was a roof over our head but it didn’t feel like home. It didn’t feel like a fit for me.'
Newberry began to attend meetings held by NACA - a nonprofit organization that helps individuals get affordable housing and take the proper steps to owning a home.
NACA had already reached out to the city of Selma a few months before the tornado in order to hold workshops on how to help citizens become homeowners.
Instead, the organization is now playing a role in building 100 new homes in Selma that are energy-efficient, climate resistant, and more resilient during natural disasters.
These modular homes, which includes Newberry's property, were built according to housing codes and each location was tested to handle high-wind speeds.
The NACA has built five homes after entering a public-private partnership with the city, Selma Housing Authority and the Black Belt Community Foundation.
'When people feel that they have a safe place, a comfortable place where they can lay their head, commune with their families, it’s uphill from there,' said NACA mortgage counselor Brian Rodriguez.
He added that the January tornado resulted in a rental market downfall that 'couldn't support the amount of people that needed a place to go.'
The NACA has since built five homes after entering a public-private partnership with the city, Selma Housing Authority and the Black Belt Community Foundation.
The land was purchased by the housing authority, while NACA purchased the houses after receiving $700,000 in funding from the community foundation.
According to Rodriguez, Bank of America also contributed an addition $2 million to the housing project.
The three-bedroom, two-bedroom houses, which will sell for around $169,500, can also be bought by individuals who use Section 8 vouchers.
'Our goal is to see how we can use our vouchers to create homeownership opportunities,” said Kennard Randolph, CEO of the Selma Housing Authority.
The soon-to-be-built 100 three-bedroom, two-bedroom homes will sell for around $169,500
According to Wooten, the NACA believes that 'if they can do it here in Selma in these conditions, they should be able to replicate it in other areas as well.'
Selma's title for being the fastest-shrinking city in Alabama is in part due to white flight and the Craig Air Force Base closure in 1977.
These closures led other business and community centers to permanently shut down and the population went down by 37 percent and 13 percent in the last decade.
'I do think there’s a correlation with the housing shortage and population decline, especially with quality housing access,' said Wooten.
Despite the housing crisis, it was reported by AL.com that there are thousands of jobs available and Selma is within the top 50 micropolitan areas.
'Housing absolutely impacts the economic status of the community as well as quality of life,' Wooten said.
'Home ownership has to be a foundation for long-term stability. By owning your homes, families create a legacy for the future generations and secure family success.'