Contact: La Jaycee Brown, (202) 720-9741
ljbrown@rdmail.rural.usda.gov
Dan Campbell, (202) 720-6483
dan.campbell@usda.gov
USDA Awards $7 Million to Repair Rural Housing
Indian tribes, low-income elderly among beneficiaries of grants
WASHINGTON, July 1, 1999 -- More than 1,800 low-income rural families with housing problems ranging from leaking roofs to crumbling foundations will soon be able to make repairs using nearly $7 million in grants awarded today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jill Long Thompson, USDA Rural Development under secretary, announced the release of funds for 125 Housing Preservation Grants, which will pay for the repair of homes or apartments.
"People should not have to live with sheets of plastic for windows, with roofs that leak from dozens of places every time it rains, or with unsafe plumbing," said Long Thompson. "These grants will protect the health and safety of people who live in some of our nation's poorest rural areas and lack the financial resources to make desperately need housing repairs."
The grants are being awarded to intermediaries -- such as town or county governments, Indian Tribes or nonprofit organizations -- which, in turn, provide grants to needy homeowners. Owners of rental properties and cooperative housing complexes that provide housing for low-income rural people will also receive some grants.
Of the $7 million awarded, $1.2 million will go to rural Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities in 10 states. These are specially designated rural areas of high poverty and unemployment levels that qualify for special federal assistance. Four grants totaling $221,770 are being made in presidentially declared natural disaster areas in two states. Another 13 grants totaling $565,148 will be made for Indian Tribal lands in eight states.
Among state receiving the largest amount of grants was Oklahoma, which received seven grants totaling about $296,000. Some of those funds will help repair tornado and flood damage suffered by members of the Delaware Tribe, Choctaw Nation, Sac and Fox Nation and the Caddo Tribe. Arkansas received four grants totaling about $328,000, including a a grant for to the Crowley Ridge Development Council, which will use the money to remove health and safety hazards from homes occupied by low-income families or individuals. One of the largest single grants is $111,000 awarded to the border town of Douglas, Az., where the money will help repair dilapidated housing inhabited by senior citizens.
"The cost for this program is minor compared to the huge improvement in the quality of life that it will make for some of our most vulnerable rural residents," Long Thompson said.
USDA received grant applications for more than $16 million to repair about 3,200 homes or apartments.
The grants are made through the Housing Preservation Grant Program, administered by USDA's Rural Housing Service (RHS). For more information on this or any other USDA housing program, call (202) 720-4323, then select "1" to be connected to your USDA Rural Development state office.
Editor's note: The list of Housing Preservation Grant recipients is available to view here.
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