Pullman non-profit gets rural housing repair grant

Any low-income homeowner in Whitman County, excluding Pullman city limits, could be in the running for a housing repair loan on applying.

Community Action Center (CAC) has received a $57,519 federal grant to use for housing repair loans to home-owners with low-incomes in rural Whitman County. The USDA Rural Development Housing Preservation Grant is specifically for rural residents. All of Whitman County outside of the Pullman city limits qualifies under the program’s rural designation, according to Dale Miller, CAC housing manager.

The grant could cover about six repair projects, Miller said. The department helps 12 to 18 homeowners a year with repairs, he added.

The grant almost doubles the organization’s current fund of $60,000 to $70,000 for home repair loans.

The USDA announced Friday it would distribute $9.8 million in grants to repair rural housing and make energy efficiency improvements around the country. The CAC program in Whitman County was one of three agencies in Washington state named to participate in the program.

To qualify for a loan, a household with an income of less than $46,000, depending on family size, and with some equity in their house could qualify for a loan at two percent interest.

Households earning less than $34,000 gross income a year could receive a loan with no interest.

“Ideally, the person coming in for this program owned their house for five to six years or more and have low to moderate income,” Miller said.

Miller said 60 to 65 percent of all the repair loans now issued in the program go to the elderly.

Many home repairs can cost up to $30,000, and because of this, the program offers other funding options on the side.

The grants were given out to non-profit organizations (like CAC), local governments and Native American tribes. Those entities then turn around and pass out the money as loans, grants or loan and grant combos to those eligible.

A typical example of someone whom the program would help is a working family in a home with repairs that cost more than their resources can handle, Miller said.

“This can provide a way to get basic repairs on the house completed,” he said.