$500K grant will help some OR residents repair homes

Benjamin Pounds, Oakridger
·2 min read
U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, R-Third District, left, talks to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally in Oak Ridge before a ceremony in which a check was presented to the Oak Ridge Housing Authority. In the background is Jean Lantrip, Oak Ridge Housing Authority board chair.
U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, R-Third District, left, talks to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally in Oak Ridge before a ceremony in which a check was presented to the Oak Ridge Housing Authority. In the background is Jean Lantrip, Oak Ridge Housing Authority board chair.
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A grant of $500,000 will help qualifying people in Oak Ridge renovate their homes.

Jim Ratliff, HOME administrator with the Oak Ridge Housing Authority, said people who make 80% or below the median income for people in Oak Ridge qualify. The program is only for people within the Oak Ridge city limits. The grant is part of the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

Ratliff said the program was not in place yet as of Dec. 22, when The Oak Ridger interviewed him, but it will probably be in place by middle to late January. The ORHA will make an announcement at that time, he said. The program was previously funded through a grant to the city in 2016. It was finished in 2021, due to two extensions, one due to COVID-19.

"The significance is to help people with lower incomes and help them make repairs on their properties," Ratliff said.

"You get things fixed up to look a little nicer," he said.

The Tennessee Housing Development Agency presented the check for $500,000 to the Oak Ridge Housing Authority. Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, R-Third District, attended a ceremony in which the check was presented.

Pictured with a check for Oak Ridge housing renovation programs are Jim Ratliff, Oak Ridge Community Development Corporation (ORCDC) Director of Operations; Maria Catron, ORCDC - executive director; Lt. Gov. Randy McNally R-Oak Ridge; Jean Lantrip, ORCDC commissioner; Katie Moore, Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA); Sharon Crane, ORCDC – Commissioner; Congressman Chuck Fleischmann R-Third District; and Tom Beehan, ORCDC board chair.

The event included speeches from the officials, both on the Oak Ridge Housing Authority about the importance of housing programs.

"Nothing pains me more, whether I'm in Washington, D.C. or in our great state of Tennessee, than to see homeless people," Fleischmann said.

"You really have taken this housing authority in the right direction, and we thank you for that," he said to Maria Catron, executive director of Oak Ridge Housing Authority.

McNally also voiced his support for ORHA.

"What you do here is essential in providing one of the pillars that we build our state on," he said.

Down Payment Assistance

Ratliff said there was an earlier HOME grant for $106,000 to help with down payment assistance for eligible homeowners within the city of Oak Ridge.

More information about this program is available on the official ORHA website. Eligible people can receive between $1,000 and $14,999.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal and email him at bpounds@oakridger.com.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: $500K grant will help some OR residents repair homes