Politics & Government
Small Cities Grant Will Help Repair 12 Groton Households
The federal grant money will be loaned to low income households for home repairs.
Twelve Groton households on a long list of people who need home repairs are about to have their wishes fulfilled thanks to the hard work of staff members of the Planning and Development department.
They have recently been awarded a $400,000 federal grant from the Small Cities Program to use in the area of housing affordability and rehabilitation, which they’ll be able to apply toward the repairs for twelve units.
Susan Cullen is a planner and director of the Neighborhood and Community Development division and she said the town hasn’t received a grant like this since 1999, although they have disbursed of millions of dollars in Small Cities funds since the office was formed in 1973.
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Cullen said one of the rules with this particular fund is that Towns have to expend the money before they can get more money. In two and a half years, her office has expended more than $800,000 on repairs for low-income houses. She said they do all kinds of work, from small repairs to fixing leaking roofs and replacing furnaces.
So far in the two and half years since she took over the Community Development program, Cullen they have helped Groton 19 households with money from the fund, which she described as a zero interest revolving loan.
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“It is a very nice program,” she said. “It really benefits people who really need it."
The application process sounds just as involved as rehabbing a house.
“We did a lot of work updating our guidelines and regulations and procedures to make them perfectly in compliance with the state’s,” Cullen said. The application was 320 pages long and was submitted in late spring.
She’s seen houses in serious disrepair. One of the houses “under her watch” had no working bathroom and a leaking roof.
“You wouldn’t want it to be your grandfather or father,” she said. “It’s pretty cool work to get to do.”
Residents interested in applying for the program are encouraged to call Susan Cullen at 860-446-5990 or email scullen@groton-ct.gov, or drop in on the Community Development division at 134 Groton Long Point Road and pick up an application package.
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