USDA home repair workshop draws a crowd
About two dozen Olney residents attended a workshop to learn about low-interest loans and grants for homeowners, business owners, and nonprofits available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The presentation by USDA loan specialist Chester Folck and USDA Area Director John Powell at the Olney Senior Cub Center touched mainly on funding available for low-income and senior homeowners who need help repairing their homes to meet health and safety codes or to add quality-of-life features.
Funds to repair homes are available in the form of up to $10,000 in grants for qualified low-income residents age 62 and older, and 20-year loans of up to $40,000 at an interest rate of 1 percent are available for qualified low-income residents of any age, Mr. Folck said. Loans and grants can be combined for up to $50,000 in assistance, he said.
The USDA accepts applications year-round to the Single Family Housing Repair Loan and Grant Programs and will process qualified applications as long as it has funding, Mr. Powell said.
But the two USDA representatives also spoke with Kyle Turner, president of Keep Olney Beautiful, and Olney Mayor Rue Rogers about USDA grants that could help the nonprofit group build the planned municipal swimming pool in Tom Griffin Park.
They talked to Danny Stewart and Jason Pack of Stewart’s Food Store about low-interest loans for possible improvements to their facilities. They spoke with Olney Economic Development Corporation representatives about grants for repairing the city’s roads and leaky water pipes.
The Aug. 17 event followed an equally well-attended workshop at Olney City Hall, where about 17 applicants turned out to apply for loans and grants to fix problems at their homes ranging from new roofs to new HVAC systems to walk-in showers.
Since last spring, code enforcement officer Cpl. Joe Logan has been carrying out a police department directive to ticket residents whose homes are not up to code as part of a push to attract more housing to Olney. The USDA program can help a lot of people struggling to repair their homes, Mayor Pro Tem Tom Parker said.
“If we can help you in any way, if you get to that point [in the application] and you need help running something down we’ll help you do that because this money is sitting here,” Mr.
Parker told the attendees. “You’ll make these gentlemen very happy if you spend their money because their job is to make these programs work. We all want to help each other get this done and make sure you get the money you can have to make the home you should have.”
City officials learned about the programs after Mr. Folck appeared at the Olney Industrial Development Corporation’s office on Main Street a few weeks ago, OIDC’s outgoing executive director Wiley Hughey said.
“There are many other programs available through USDA. There are loans for infrastructure and housing. There’s a possibility of a new firetruck,” Mr. Hughey said. “There are many [programs] there that nobody knows about. We wouldn’t have known about it had Chester not come to my office.”
Mr. Folck ran through the federal funding available to rural communities like Olney, and Mr. Hughey and Mr. Parker, who is in line to be the next executive director of the newly chartered Olney Economic Development Corporation, plan to apply for every program for which Olney might be eligible.
The residential repair programs are designed for very low and low-income homeowners whose income starts at $36,400 for very low income to $58,800 for low income for an individual and up to $77,600 for a household of eight in Young County, according to the USDA website.
For more information about the programs, contact the USDA’s Abilene office at 325-201-9840.