UC Habitat Applying For Preservation Grant

Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity is applying for a Housing Preservation Grant to support its new house repair program.

Repair Services Coordinator Stacy Nash said the grant would allow Habitat to go into the counties they serve and do house repairs for citizens who are elderly, disabled, or low income. Nash said one of the main goals of the program is to modify the homes of senior citizens so they can avoid having to move to an assisted living facility.

“Whether it’s like a modification for a wheelchair ramp, make them more accessible to be able to go in and out of their homes, whether it’s grab bars in their bathrooms, you know, different things like that that we can do to try to help them be able to stay in their homes longer,” Nash said.

Nash said the program would also focus on low-income citizens whose homes are in need of repairs that they cannot afford. She said helping these families keep their homes now will also benefit the younger generations that will be able to own those homes in the future.

“Habitat is all about a hand up, not a handout,” Nash said. “This is a way that we can do help with the community, help us to help somebody else be able to stay in their home, to preserve their home, to be able to live in their home and not end up sick because of mold from that roof, you know, the leaky roof. Or their floor, they had a leak and they fixed the water leak but their flooring is now starting to get soft and give way. No one wants to have to worry about is their floor going to fall through.”

Nash said they used to offer house repair services for senior citizens thanks to funding from the Memphis Senior Trust Fund, but that money eventually ran out.

“Once that money expired and there wasn’t any more of the senior trust money, you know, Habitat hadn’t really had a program in place to do a lot of the, of the repairs,” Nash said. “But with our aging seniors and baby boomers getting older, you know, we recognize that that’s a need.”

Nash said the grant application is due by July 29 and the award date is in November. She said the Housing Preservation Grant comes from the USDA’s Rural Development Agency, which reached out to them about the grant once they became eligible.

“They reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, did you know this grant’s available?'” Nash said. “And they’re, you know, they’re very helpful in trying to get us to the place that we need to be to help people.”

She said they are applying for multiple grants meant to support the repairs program.

“I’ve got about four different grants that I’ve applied for right now that I’m waiting on,” Nash said. “You know, grants are not something that you get an answer within a week or two.”

Nash said the repairs program is still working to get set up and will not be taking applications for assistance until sometime around January or February.