Gov. Ralph Northam announced recently a $1 million grant for the James City County’s Scattered Site Rehab program.
The Community Development Block Grant will be used for people on the county’s wait list who have asked the county to help pay for household repairs such as water leaks and roof damage. The grant also includes the rehabilitation and replacement of homes.
“We’re very excited,” said Paul Holt, director of community development and planning for JCC.
The county has to match the grant with $210,000.
“For budget planning purposes, the local share is expected as follows: $10,000 of volunteer and in-kind services from Housing Partnerships, Inc., $100,000 from the County’s Housing Development Fund as planned for in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget document and $100,000 of program income from prior CDBG projects in the County,” according to the county’s grant application.
Holt said based on a preliminary estimate, 16 homes will be eligible for the grant based on income.
The grant is anticipated to benefit 29 people in 16 homes, according to the grant application. However, Holt said that’s based on a generic number of people who might be living in the 16 homes.
In order to qualify, the 16 households must have low to moderate incomes. For a family of four, the incomes must be below $60,000.
“We will revisit those same homes,” Holt said, in regards to determining their eligibility for the grant.
When asked how the grant would be broken down between the homes, Holt said it would depend on what each home needs.
“You never really know what it’s going to cost when you get in there,” he said. “Our goal is to maximize the use of these funds.”
It’s unclear how the funds will be allocated or when the grant will start going to the homes.
“I don’t have any new or updated information to share and we don’t yet have a timeline of when we’ll get started,” Holt wrote in an email. “Next steps for us will include finalizing all the necessary grant paperwork between the State and the County.”
According to the governor’s news release, the state gets $18.1 million for the Community Development Block Grant program each year and the grants mostly benefit homeowners with low to moderate income.
