Story posted Friday, June 5, 2009
Village Helping Repair Homes For Those In Need
By RICHARD MAYER Assistant Managing Editor
Mt. Prospect families in need of home improvements but unable to afford goods and services can now seek assistance through the village's Single Family Rehabilitation Program.
The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated $98,234 to the village through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the village's Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG). To apply for those funds, the village was asked to submit a substantial amendment to their current program year Action Plan to the HUD field office by today (Friday).
HUD asked village staff to evaluate proposed projects for consistency with the goals of the Recovery Act and strongly urged grantees to use the CDBG-R funds for hard costs associated with infrastructure activities that provide basic services to residents or activities that promote energy efficiency and conservation through rehabilitation retrofitting of exiting buildings.
The allocated funds will be used for the village's Single Family Rehabilitation Program, to enable village staff to make necessary repairs and improvements for an additional 3-4 qualified households.
Due to the current economic situation, the village has seen an increase in Single Family Rehab (SFR) loan applications.
Some of the applicants include:
* Residents that have lost their job and income source, but need to make necessary repairs to their homes
* Residents looking to decrease utility costs and make energy-saving improvements to their homes
* Elderly residents wanting to stay in their homes longer, but lacking the necessary funds to make repairs to their homes.
The SFR program provides 0% interest loans to qualified residents up to a maximum of $25,000 that requires no monthly payments, and is paid back upon the sale or change in title of their home. A long-term benefit of this program is the ability for residents to stay in their homes longer and the stabilization of neighborhoods within the village, according to officials. An economic benefit of the additional funding is jobs created for construction workers, along with materials purchased locally.
According to Director of Community Development Bill Cooney, this annual program has been successful for the past two decades.
"We felt this is an appropriate use of funds that will benefit neighborhoods," said Cooney.
"This is great," exclaimed Trustee Arlene Juracek. "This is exactly the assistance we should be providing to our residents."
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