News release from Mayor Joe Ganim:
Mayor Joe Ganim announced today that $400,000 of the city of Bridgeport’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been allocated for Bridgeport homeowners to make needed repairs to their homes through The Homeowner Rehabilitation Program (HRP). This program makes funding available for low to moderate income homeowners, who may not be able to afford expensive repairs that could threaten their homeownership health and safety.
“We established the Homeowner Rehabilitation Program to care for the needs of our residents and support them in their homeownership,” said Mayor Joe Ganim. “I have heard from a number of residents who have financial hardships and whose homes are in desperate need of repairs. This program will relieve them of the financial challenges surrounding emergency repairs and ultimately improve the quality of life for them, their families and their neighbors.”
The HRP provides no-interest forgivable loans for up to $25k to qualified homeowners to cover the cost of repairs. Eligible repairs include housing, health code violations, and other repairs that may be needed to make homes safe, habitable and energy efficient. Some examples include roof and window replacements, sewers, plumbing issues, chimneys, gutters and making homes handicapped accessible.
Bridgeport homeowners are invited to identify their needs for repairs and are encouraged to apply. The HRP is subject to all Bridgeport Office of Housing and Community Development and HUD rules and regulations related to administering the CDBG program. Residents who are elderly, handicapped, and veterans will take priority. Homeowners with emergency cases, including health and safety issues will also be given priority. This program will not cover the costs of cosmetic repairs to homes. Residents who are approved for funding will have a lien placed on their property for a maximum of five years, after which the loan will be completely forgiven, and lien released.
To be eligible for this assistance, an applicant must: (1) Be a resident of the City of Bridgeport, (2) Meet financial need requirements, (3) Provide proof of income and homeowners insurance, and (4) The home where repairs are made, must be the applicant’s primary residence for a minimum of five years while participating in the program.
For more information regarding this program and how to apply, visit bridgeportct.gov/homeowner or contact Arianna White, Intake Coordinator for the Homeowner Rehabilitation Program, Office of Housing and Community Development, Arianna.white@bridgeportct.gov or call 203-576-8144.
Good luck!
I served two years on the Citizens Union that at times has been a mechanism used by City government to screen the large number of requests for dollars from HUD sponsored Community Development Block Grant funds annually. I have a sense that loan funds have been available in past years? What extent has been made? Nothing in the info shared indicates restrictions to certain Census tracks in the City where the poorest live according to statistics. Yet such census track info is used to weigh allocations of other HUD CDBG funds.
Questions: 1) If this is not a new program, how much was allocated and spent in each of the last three years?
2) How many property owners met the requirements in each of the past three and benefited on average?
3) Any funds left over in any of the years and if so how were they re-programmed? This is all about Federal funds to help the neediest in the City (and perhaps an election year activity….or has this program been so promoted in the past?) Time will tell.
Just off the phone with a call from folks at City Hall who have addressed my questions.
The program of no-interest loans to benefit the City’s neediest homeowners with emergency repairs with special attention to the elderly, poor and veterans is NOT geographically restricted. Not a new program but the former program went “off line” for several years as the City staffed these positions that interact with the public and also provide some construction management expertise to assure that the dollars go as far as possible. The City has now “staffed up” professionally to administer the CDBG program and serve the needy public. And the size of individual loans has moved from $15,000 formerly to $25,000 because of the age of our housing stock. Let’s keep an eye on the program as a part of routine oversight as well as keep the administration of CDBG funds current among employees since we have over 40 years of getting the block grants. Time will tell.
What are the current financial needs requirements? It shouldn’t be a chore to just print the one-page schedule of what constitutes low to moderate income
Sounds like a good program for those in need. JML, thanks for following up about this program. JML, you said, “the City staffed these positions that interact with the public and also provide some construction management expertise to assure that the dollars go as far as possible. The City has now “staffed up” professionally to administer the CDBG program and serve the needy public.” That sounds very positive especially construction management expertise to assure that the dollars go as far as possible because the home owner more than likely don’t have that type of expertise on the spending of funds if they win approval. I must say that the video was low of answering questions and providing information, plus the video was poorly recorded with terrible volume.