State agency’s grants will help WNY groups rehabilitate 71 houses
A New York State agency has approved $754,000 in grants that will go toward rehabilitating 71 houses into homes for low-and moderate-income families in three Western New York counties.
The awards were approved by the board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corp. and will bolster the efforts of local housing organizations in Erie, Cattaraugus and Wyoming counties.
“Our grants will be used to upgrade the housing stock and improve the quality of life in Western New York,” Priscilla Almodovar, CEO of the agency, said in a statement.
The projects receiving grants are:
• NeighborWorks Home Resources will receive $300,000 to improve 40 single-family homes in Erie, Cattaraugus and Wyoming counties. Funding from the division of Housing and Community Renewal will bring the total cost of the projects to $645,000.
The plan is to restore some of the area’s many older homes by correcting structural, mechanical and plumbing problems, as well as replacing doors, windows and siding.
• HomeFront Inc., will receive $284,160 to buy and fix 22 homes in the City of Buffalo.
The money will be used to help low-and moderate-income households with down payments, closing costs and rehabilitation for first-time homebuyers, as well as to participate in HomeFront’s prepurchase counseling program. The grant is part of a $1.44 million program that also includes $200,000 from the City of Buffalo and the new homebuyers mortgage and equity investments.
• Heart of the City Neighborhoods Inc. will receive $170,000 to buy and renovate three single- family and three two-family homes, all vacant and abandoned, on Whitney Place in Buffalo.
The organization’s first-time homebuyer program, which also provides education and a homebuyer readiness assessment for the families it serves, will combine the AHC grant with DHCR money and the mortgages and equity provided by the homebuyers for a total value of $856,000.
Participants in each of the projects must meet the household income limits set by each sponsor.
AHC is a subsidiary of the New York State Housing Finance Agency, which combines state funds with other public and private investments.
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