Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity is requesting an additional $250,000 from the City of Rockford to help low-income residents renovate their homes.
The funding would allow Habitat for Humanity’s Critical Home Repair program, which began in 2022 with support from the city and the nonprofit Rockford Housing Development Corp., to continue.
The City Council’s Planning and Development Committee voted on Monday to approve the request. The funds would come from the American Rescue Plan Act.
In a proposal to the city, Keri Asevedo, executive director of Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity, wrote that the goal of the program is to help low-income homeowners stay in their homes longer.
“In strong housing markets, home preservation is a critical way to preserve affordable housing in areas where it would be difficult to create new affordable housing units,” she wrote.
More: It’s your turn: Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity is 35 years old and is building
Families living in their own homes and earning less than 80 percent of the area median income would be eligible to participate in the Habitat for Humanity program.
To be eligible, families must also live in a census tract qualified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – which includes much of the west and south sides of Rockford – or be able to demonstrate that they have had negative effects from Covid-19.
The program would support roof and plumbing repairs, construction work, heating, ventilation and air conditioning projects, and any necessary measures to bring homes into compliance with applicable codes.
In total, Habitat for Humanity is hoping to raise $375,000 to restart the Critical Home Repair program. They plan to apply for $125,000 from Rockford Corridor Improvement.
Habitat for Humanity’s proposal assumes that 80 percent of the planned budget will be used for direct expenses such as materials and labor, with the remaining 20 percent to be used for administrative costs.
From 2016 to 2019, Habitat for Humanity received support from the nonprofit financial services organization Thrivent to help residents make up to $2,500 in exterior-only repairs to their homes.
In 2021, Habitat for Humanity used a $40,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois to help seven low-income seniors make repairs to their homes, including installing new windows and building ramps for the handicapped.
Starting in 2022, Habitat for Humanity will offer more comprehensive services through the Critical Home Repair program. The $500,000 program ultimately assisted 35 households in neighborhoods in southeast and southwest Rockford.
But the first round of funding eventually ran out, even though demand for services remains. Asevedo wrote in her proposal to the city that Habitat for Humanity continues to receive requests for the program.
“We knew the need for repair assistance would be great, but the magnitude of the demand exceeded even our expectations,” she wrote.
According to the Habitat for Humanity website, the application period for the Critical Home Repair program is currently closed.
The City of Rockford also offers programs to help low- and moderate-income residents renovate their homes.
Under the Expanded Rehab Assistance Program, launched last winter, homeowners earning up to 150 percent of the area median income who were negatively affected by the pandemic could apply for a three-year, forgiven loan of up to $60,000.
The Exterior Rehabilitation Program covers construction costs for exterior repairs – for example, to the roof, windows or siding of a home – for households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income.
Both programs are currently closed, but the application period will reopen in the future.
Tilly Robinson is interning this summer as a reporter for the Gannett/USA Today Network at the Rockford Register Star. You can reach her by email at [email protected] and at X @Subscribe.
