Fund for minor home repairs, HAVEN get CDBG

The Wolverine Lake City Council voted to allocate the bulk of 2013 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds toward the village’s minor home repair fund and contribute remaining dollars to HAVEN.

The council took action after it held a public hearing on Oct. 10.

The CDBG program provides funds to benefit low and moderate income residents to renovate older housing, revitalize neighborhoods, provide human services, and rebuild community infrastructure. Projects beneficial to an individual or family are judge based on income and projects beneficial to the community in general and may only occur in census tracts which meet Housing and Urban Development (HUD) criteria of low and moderate income.

Currently HUD identifies only one qualifying census tract in Wolverine Lake — the Heron Hills area located in the panhandle of the village.

Of the total $10,195 allocation, $7,695 was devoted for the Minor Home Repair program.

“This is for necessary repairs homeowners need, but don’t have the finances to do it,” said Village Council President John Magee.

The Minor Home Repair program assists low-income families. Assistance is based on gross income, which includes the earnings of all adult household members plus the benefits of all household members.

Visit www.oakgov.com/chi for more information or contact the village office at 248-624-1710.

Low-income homeowners can use funds from the Minor Home Repair program for things like furnace repairs/purchases, water heaters, toilets, repairing defective wiring, roofing, and water/sewer line repairs. Each allocation is capped at $5,000 per household.

According to Magee, over the last few years the breakdown of the $15,493 in CDBG funds for the Minor Home Repair program have been used for plumbing and chimney repairs ($3,320); gutters/drain spouts ($1,100); furnace replacement for two homes ($4,701); well pump replacement ($1,540); garage door replacement ($1,157); and septic field replacements ($3,675).

HAVEN will receive $2,500, the minimum disbursement allowed for public service agencies. The maximum amount allowed is 30 percent, according to 2013 CDBG criteria.