Park Forest, Il- (Enewspf) -The village Park Forest has successfully exhausted a grant of over $ 400,000, which recorded income qualified residents in the replacement of their roofs and complete repairs and rehab repairs and rehab rehab on the replacement of their roofs.
In the summer of 2022, the village applied for a grant via the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The department operates the household and barrier-free program (HRAP), which is supported for homeowners with low and very low income by providing funds for the repair of health and security as well as improvements to accessibility.
The deputy director for economic development and planning by Andrew Brown said that the village accepted applications after the financing in the spring of 2023.
Brown explained that the application process was extensive and strict and ultimately enabled them to support 23 Park Foresters. He found that some of the qualifications included the entire household income of not over 80 percent of the region's middle income.
“We were able to replace 20 roofs and the average costs for these replacement situations were around $ 18,000,” said Brown. “Some participants had extensive work that had to be done and had complete home meters who were over 41,000 US dollars per house.”
Brown said that the village received additional funds from the state during this process for this program. The grant helped the repairs of the household applicants for applicants. But it also helped the village to add more employees to lead applicants through the process, which at times took several months.
Repairs at home: the residents received help
Brown emphasized that the residents who receive support would not be able to make these decisive repairs themselves in almost every case. Many also lacking experience or resources to find the complex process of searching for trustworthy contractors and the management of large projects. He found that the additional staff of the village helped the applicants to the applicants, as already mentioned.
Brown recognized the “enormous amount” of the efforts behind the scenes of the village employee to achieve this. He said that the program affects considerably more paperwork than other grants. Each completed project for a single homeowner required at least 28 signatures and four notarized documents. The total number of signatures over 644 was used for all completed projects and almost 100 notary marks were used.
“It was a mountain stuff, but we willingly climbed to help our neighbors,” said Brown. “I would like to thank the employee of the Park Forest Building Department for the provision of countless emergency services.”
Brown found that the advantages of this program extend to the entire community, including those who are not participants. If a neighbor's house is safe, safe and well maintained, it improves the entire community. He added that this contributes to stable real estate values, improves the visual attraction of the streets and promotes a stronger feeling for the pride of the community.
“Above all, this means that our neighbors, people we know and take care of ourselves, and with dignity in the houses they love, can continue to live,” concluded Brown.
Brown said there are still more than 20 people on the waiting list. If the state can finance this program again, these people receive help with the urgently needed improvement of their houses. Brown warned that it is unclear whether there will be funds. The village will make an official announcement if the situation changes.
These are news from the village of Park Forest.