Homewood and Hazelwood to receive significant investments
Harrisburg, April 13, 2017 — Three Pittsburgh communities will share $300,000 in state grant funds awarded through Pennsylvania’s Housing Affordability Rehabilitation and Enhancement Act (PHARE), also known as Pa’s housing trust fund, state Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) announced today.
The PHARE grant funds were approved during today’s Pa Home Financing Authority (PHFA) board meeting in Harrisburg.
“These grant funds provide housing opportunities for our residents — one of the most basic needs that many of us take for granted,” Costa said. “It’s a great feeling when you can return funding back to the community that will directly impact the lives of your friends and neighbors and in many cases, open the door to a warm place to raise their family.
“PHFA is a wonderful organization doing work that changes the lives of families across the state. I’m grateful for their commitment and dedication to the communities and the families that need them the most.”
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) will receive $50,000 for its Landlord Mitigation Fund, specifically to provide an enhanced security deposit/guarantee as an incentive to private market landlords who accept Housing Choice Vouchers. With these additional funds, DHS anticipates providing 25 households with an additional guarantee beyond the standard security deposit.
In Homewood, $200,000 in grant funds will be used for the Grassroots Green Homes – Home Boost Homewood program. Funding will allow grant recipient CCI to provide residents with safety evaluations, energy efficiency retrofits and necessary repairs and improvements. Through the Home Boost Homewood project, CCI also plans to hold educational meetings in the community to promote energy savings and ways residents can make their homes healthier and more efficient.
Hazelwood Initiative, Inc. will receive $50,000 in grant funds, which it plans to use to redevelop two local buildings into four affordable housing units. According to the organization, two of the units will serve as homeownership incubators allowing residents to set aside portions of monthly rent to be used toward the purchase of a home in a local neighborhood.
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency provides affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. PHFA promotes economic development initiatives across the state through mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments. The organization was created by the General Assembly in 1972. Since that time, PHFA has generated more than $13.1 billion of funding for nearly 167,400 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 132,531 rental units, and saved the homes of more than 48,800 families from foreclosure.
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