Municipalities, organizations receive housing grants

Dec. 28—Local municipalities and organizations will receive state grants to help residents afford their homes.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced that 1,400 households will benefit from more than $46 million in grant awards to support affordable homeownership. The grants will help low- and moderate-income families make repairs or safety upgrades to their homes, replace manufactured homes, and provide down payment assistance for first-time buyers.

The grants, which are administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal's Office of Community Renewal were awarded to nonprofit organizations and localities to help preserve affordable housing, support veterans and older New Yorkers, increase access to homeownership, and strengthen local economies. The awards are made through state and federally funded programs including NYS HOME, NYS Community Development Block Grant, Access to Home, Access to Home for Heroes, Access to Home for Medicaid, Mobile and Manufactured Home Replacement, and RESTORE. Each program accepts applications in an annual competitive funding round.

Local municipalities and organizations that will receive awards are:

—City of Oneonta a $500,000 CBDG grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Delaware Opportunities a $600,000 HOME grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation and a $500,000 RESTORE grant for emergency repairs for elderly homeowners;

—Otsego Rural Housing Assistance, Inc. a $150,000 Access to Home grant for accessibility modifications and a $250,000 RESTORE grant for emergency repairs for elderly homeowners;

—RUPCO, Inc. a $500,000 RESTORE grant for emergency repairs for elderly homeowners;

—Schoharie County a $800,000 CBDG grant for manufactured housing replacement;

—Schoharie County Rural Preservation Corp. a $496,000 HOME grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Town of Kortright a $350,000 CBDG grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Town of Middletown a $500,000 CBDG grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Town of Roxbury a $500,000 CBDG grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Town of Unadilla a $500,000 CBDG grant for owner occupied housing rehabilitation;

—Village of Bainbridge a $500,000 CBDG grant for housing rehabilitation (owner occupied and multi-unit rental), and lateral replacement and manufactured housing replacement.

HOME Program funds can be used to acquire and/or rehabilitate single-family housing, provide down payment assistance, replace dilapidated mobile and manufactured homes as well as provide tenant based rental assistance to households with incomes at or below 80% of area median income, the release said.

Community Development Block Grant Program provides federal funds to help localities with projects that improve communities and benefit their residents, the release said. Housing grants can be used for housing rehabilitation of owner-occupied or renter-occupied homes, down payment assistance for low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers, and private water/wastewater system assistance for low- and moderate-income homeowners.

Access to Home program provides financial assistance to make homes accessible for low- and moderate-income persons with disabilities so that they can continue living safely and comfortably in their residences or return to live in their residences instead of in an institutional setting, the release said.

Mobile and Manufactured Home Replacement program assists low- and moderate-income homeowners to replace dilapidated mobile or manufactured homes that are sited on land owned by the homeowner with a new manufactured, modular or site-built home, the release said.

RESTORE provides financial resources to assist senior citizen homeowners with the cost of addressing emergencies and code violations that pose a threat to their health and safety or affect the livability of the home, the release said. Assistance for the cost of these critical repairs enables seniors to continue to live independently in their homes.