Open House Friday Celebrates Home Reconstruction
Date:
06/29/2010Summary:
Imagine living in a property barely inhabitable, damaged by acts of nature and beset by corner-cutting repair jobs while earning only enough money to survive, with no foreseeable hope of getting those problems fixed.Contact:
City Neighborhood Services Program Turned Around Uninhabitalbe Property For Low-Income Couple
Yuma, Ariz. - Imagine living in a property barely inhabitable, damaged by acts of nature and beset by corner-cutting repair jobs while earning only enough money to survive, with no foreseeable hope of getting those problems fixed. Where would you turn?
In the City of Yuma, one source of hope is the City of Yuma's Home Improvement Loan Program, coordinated by the City's Neighborhood Services Division. Using sources such as federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), approximately 60 homes to date belonging to low-income or moderate-income residents have been rehabilitated or reconstructed in the Carver Park Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area alone. The program is active in other areas, such as the Yuma High Neighborhood, as well.
In honor of one couple in that very type of predicament, Neighborhood Services is holding an open house 8 a.m. Friday at 560 S. 16th Avenue in Yuma. At that time, Inocente and Maria Frailes will begin moving back in, for the first time, to their house that was rebuilt as a result of qualifying for a reconstruction project under the City's Home Improvement Loan Program.
Thanks to about $45,000 in reconstruction costs paid for through federal stimulus money with the remainder of the costs financed by the contractor, J and V Construction, Mr. and Mrs. Frailes will be returning to a familiar address but a new building - a safe, new, energy-efficient and termite-free home with three bedrooms and one bathroom.
During the open house, members of Neighborhood Services will provide information on the various programs they offer, including the Home Improvement Loan Program that the Frailes family qualified for.
"We want to demonstrate what has been achieved and what kind of positive impact Neighborhood Services is making in this and other neighborhoods in our community," said Marisela Valle-Erlenbach, Program Coordinator for the Home Improvement Loan Program and Senior Neighborhood Services Specialist with the City of Yuma.
This project is special because it is a total reconstruction, where the vast majority of homes they work with are rehabilitation projects. "In this case, there were too many problems with the building," Valle-Erlenbach said.
Those who cannot attend the open house but who are interested in more information about this or other programs offered through Neighborhood Services may call (928) 373-5187.
