Mayor Steve Callaway | Mayor Steve Callaway Official photo
Mayor Steve Callaway | Mayor Steve Callaway Official photo
Gary LaFollett knew his house needed a new roof, but he didn’t know how he was going to pay for it.
Retired and on a fixed income, the $9,000 cost looked out of reach for the lifelong Hillsboro resident.
“I was just going to let it go,” he admits.
Luckily, Gary read about the City of Hillsboro’s Housing Rehabilitation Program and applied.
Funded with money from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, Hillsboro’s Housing Rehabilitation Program helps income-qualified people like Gary to stay in their homes by making crucial repairs and improvements.
A few months after applying, Gary received a call saying he was approved. A few days after that, his home had a roof.
“It’s a $9,000 roof and it cost me nothing, whatsoever,” he says.
Rehabbing Homes
The City of Hillsboro invests part of its CDBG funds in the Housing Rehabilitation Program to offer up to $10,000 to income-qualified residents for critical home repairs or improvements.
Common jobs include:
- Fixing roofs
- Adding insulation
- Removing mold
- Installing accessibility and safety equipment
For Gary, the program has been a revelation. He’s thankful for the security and peace of mind he feels every time he looks at his rehabbed home. He’s also optimistic about the direction his community is heading in.
“Hillsboro has some really good programs and that means a really good future!”
Funding Future Investments: The Community Development Block Grant
The Community Development Block Grant is a long-standing federal program designed to fund local community development activities, such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs, and more.
The City of Hillsboro has participated in the program since 2000, pooling its smallish award with other Washington County jurisdictions to create a joint entitlement. However, as Hillsboro’s population grew, so did the amount of the grant.
Eventually, the grant grew large enough that it made fiscal sense for the City of Hillsboro to self-administer the funds. This move, completed in 2018, allows 100% of the federal money — around $750,000 a year — to go directly to programs.
Hillsboro pays for all the administrative and public services costs associated with these programs separately out of its General Fund budget.
“It gives us the flexibility to empower our community by using these funds to meet our community’s need in a more direct and efficient approach,” Martinez explains.
Self-administering expands and strengthens partnerships among nonprofit and private-sector organizations in enhancing community development.
It also allows Hillsboro to focus 100% of CDBG grant money on affordable housing through the Community Land Trust, rehab programs, and public facility improvements.
The rehab program helps keep low- or fixed-income Hillsboro residents in their homes, while the Community Land Trust program fosters permanent, affordable home ownership.
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