When Cloud Village Apartments were built in 1978, the total construction cost was $540,000 for the 32 one- and two-bedroom units set in eight fourplexes. Nearly 50 years later, improvements were needed to continue to make the community livable for its residents.

In late 2022, the Concordia Housing Authority, who manages the development sought ways to pay for the needed renovations. They heard about FHLBank Topeka’s Affordable Housing Program. After applying through local member bank, United Bank and Trust, they were approved for a $992,000 AHP grant in December 2022.

Since then, the Housing Authority has put the funds to good use renovating kitchens, replacing flooring, improving accessibility in the units’ bathrooms, replacing windows and upgrading exterior lighting. One of the biggest changes is new concrete throughout the complex. Repaired sidewalks make navigating the apartments much safer. They also added a new parking lot to provide closer access to residents in buildings at the back of the complex.

“The FHLBank funds came right when we needed them. They were a miracle in helping us to remodel nearly every apartment,” said Sheila Jackson, property manager for Cloud Village.

The Concordia Housing Authority held an open house to highlight the improvements on Sept. 27, 2024. The event included tours of several units, a gathering in the renovated community room complete with homemade confections from residents and the dedication of the newest bronze statue throughout the city honoring its history as a stop on the Orphan Train, that connected orphans from the east coast to families in Western states from 1854 to 1929.

The statue unveiled at Cloud Village depicts Agnes Porter Cooney Siegel and James Mudar Cooney, two orphans who were adopted into the same home and raised as siblings.