Ottawa County residents short on cash have a new opportunity for a variety of assistance programs.

More than $500,000 has been released to Ottawa County for two Community Development Block Grant programs under its direction, according to Todd Bickley, Ottawa Regional Planning Commission director. A sum of $342,000 has been put aside for the Home Investment Partnerships Program and another $180,000 for the Community Housing Improvement Program.

Residents from Genoa to Marblehead are eligible to apply for the county services, with the exception of Port Clinton. The city secured funding of its own for similar programs for those living within its boundaries, Bickley explained.

Bickley’s office works with WSOS Community Action Commission to administer the programs.

Basically, the money has been divided into these categories:

• Rental housing assistance - $100,000 for up to 15 households

• Private home rehabilitation - $190,000 for up to five owner-occupied homes

• Home building repair - $100,000 for general repairs such as furnace or roof repairs

• Homelessness prevention efforts – $20,000 to providing emergency monthly housing assistance for up to seven families as well as a WSOS finance counselor

• Private rental rehabilitation - $20,000

• Housing information development counseling - $10,000

• New construction - $20,000 to assist local Habitat for Humanity

In addition, $62,000 is being allocated for administering both programs through the funding cycle that ends by October 2013.

Some of the payments do not require reimbursement such as rental assistance, Bickley explained. But others, like housing rehabilitation, are set up in revolving loan form. For example, a resident may receive $30,000 for a do-it-all project covering repairs, including plumbing, electrical work and windows.

Perhaps $15,000 would be forgiven for those remaining in the house at least five years, Bickley said. The other $15,000 would go on the mortgage or a lien form. The county, then, would recoup the money when the house is sold, Bickley said. That money then goes into a revolving loan to help fulfill other housing applications.

“They just don’t take any home that’s submitted,” Bickley added. “It goes through an extensive review. If it’s too much to rehab they won’t do it.”

Hope Kingsborough of WSOS is the projects coordinator for WSOS, overseeing the process from applications to project completions.

Assistance is based on income. Applicants fill out WSOS forms available at the Ottawa County Courthouse or contact WSOS officials.

Forms are also available for the designated Port Clinton monies at city hall offices, she said.

WSOS takes the forms as well as pertinent documentation regarding income, household size, etc. for its evaluations.

Officials are aiming to provide rental assistance by early December and homeless assistance by late December, Kingsborough said. Registration has already started.

For more information on the programs, call 419-639-6123 or 800-775-9767.

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