Thanks to a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, affordable housing and economic development in Helena-West Helena will receive a real shot in the arm.

HUD announced Tuesday that it had awarded a $1,998, 621 grant to Southern Capital Partners of Arkadelphia. The grant is part of a national effort to address distressed housing conditions and concentrated poverty according to a HUD press release. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said HUD’s new Rural Innovation Fund grants encourage an ‘entrepreneurial approach’ to affordable housing and economic development in rural areas