Growing: The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Capitol City Produce, LSU and Southern University are partnering to create the Vince Ferachi Community Garden located on Commercial Avenue, which officially opens Monday, Nov. 11. The garden will provide fresh produce, harvested by food bank volunteers, to those in need in Baton Rouge. Area schools will also be able to use the garden to learn about local farming.
Housing assistance: The Louisiana Housing Corporation has launched a new, soft second mortgage assistance initiative to aid first-time homebuyers in areas affected by the 2016 floods. Qualified first-time homebuyers in 51 flood-impacted parishes can get up to $60,000 toward purchasing a home. The $6 million program is a collaboration between LHC and the state’s Office of Community Development. Read the announcement.
Checking in: Airbnb announced several measures Wednesday to bolster trust and better protect the safety of its users, The Washington Post reports. In an email to employees, CEO Brian Chesky said the home-renting platform would start verifying all 7 million listings on the platform, a process expected to stretch into late 2020. By Dec. 15 of next year, he wrote, a review of every home and host on Airbnb will be complete, “with the objective of 100 percent verification.” Read the full story.
