City gets housing rehab grant
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 12:56 p.m., January 8, 2008
Updated 12:56 p.m., January 8, 2008
A $200,000 housing rehabilitation grant has been awarded to the city of Emporia by the state housing agency, the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation.
The grant, one of 11 made in Kansas, came through the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program.
“These funds will be used to rehabilitate approximately 12 to 14 homes in the city of Emporia, owned and occupied by low-income persons,” housing specialist Jeff Lynch said.
The money is not expected to arrive for about six weeks.
“We are taking applications and we’ll start doing some home inspections here soon,” he said. “Each property is inspected and evaluated to see if it fits the state-mandated formula.”
Lynch said that in the past, the city has applied for the grant approximately every two years, and often received the $300,000 maximum award.
An abundance of applications were submitted, however, and competition was heavy for the funds.
“We’re a small enough community we have to apply for the competitive grants, so we’re competing against everybody who’s under, say, the size of Lawrence. And that’s a lot of towns,” Lynch said.
“Since there were so many applicants this year, they trimmed them down some so nobody got the full amount. We did get a pretty good chunk, and we’ll put it to good use.”
According to information from the state housing agency, almost $2 million was made available for Kansas projects. The money is intended to help fund renovation, accessibility, and weatherization projects on substandard housing.
“Local municipalities distribute the (home rehabilitation) assistance in the form of a deferred loan, allowing homeowners to make repairs, bring their home up to code and eliminate other health and safety hazards,” according to information from Catherine Crouch, spokesperson for the agency.
The home improvements may include:
• Repair or replacement of major housing systems and structural components.
• Essential energy-related repairs or improvements.
• Accessibility modifications to allow use by persons with disabilities.
• Reduction of lead paint hazards.
• Repairs necessary to meet housing quality standards and local building codes.
To be eligible for funds, individuals must live in the home as a principal residence and must have household income no more than 80 percent of the area median gross annual income.
For more information contact Lynch at the housing office, 522 Mechanic St., or by calling 343-4285.
Details also are available on the agency’s Web site, http://www.kshousingcorp.org/programs/hr.shtml