$650K Grant Awarded To Rehabilitate Substandard Housing

April 14, 2011

A $650,000 grant will rehabilitate several substandard houses in one North Escambia community.

A Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) awarded to the Town of Century will rehabilitate or replace about nine homes that are currently occupied by persons of low or moderate income.

In order to be eligible for the rehabilitation grant assistance, applicants must reside within the corporate limits of Century and meet low income requirements. Applications with the lowest incomes will receive priority in the program.

Persons interested in the grant program must apply by April 28 by stopping by the Century Town Hall between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. For more information, call Debbie Nickles at (850) 256-3208.

For complete program information and income requirements, click here.

Comments

28 Responses to “$650K Grant Awarded To Rehabilitate Substandard Housing”

  1. Polythenepam on April 17th, 2011 10:01 am

    I could make 650K go alot farther than, 9 homes. And what about hiring local to do these repairs?

  2. Just sayin' on April 17th, 2011 1:12 am

    EAB,

    Do you have children? Are they underage? If so, tell me what would happen to them if something happened to you? Do you have enough insurance to pay for everything that they will need? Do you have enough money put aside for their college educations, etc? What if you had worked for 25+ years and suddenly became unable to even pull yourself out of the bed on some days, in a wheelchair on others, using a walker on your best days and have horrible problems with memory and concentration and hurt all over every single second of every day? What if, since you can’t work anymore, you lose your health insurance and suddenly have to pay for your own doctor visits and medications? What if you had to watch your substantial savings dwindle to nothing just from paying the necessary expenses related to your home and children and medical care? What if you didn’t have family to help you and you were on your own? WHAT would you do? What if everything that could go wrong in life…..DID and you had nowhere else to turn? Would you still feel that way? Would you just sit there and die because “God must want you to die”?

    Probably so because based on your last comment, you frankly don’t give a damn.

  3. angie on April 16th, 2011 8:30 am

    To eab

    You reaaly are full of yourself. You must not know any real conservatives….you are just repeating what ever you hear from the left wing liberals. This is exactly why I am an Independant, I would not want to be associated with either party at this point in time. They both seem to have idiots as their spokespeople. Go educate yourself before posting and makeing all of the Democrats look bad.

    Their are idiots in both parties……and nuts on both sides of the fence. Get real……

  4. eab on April 16th, 2011 1:06 am

    just sayin’…

    I said….I gave up my satellite tv 4 years ago because I could not see paying for it while complaining about my other bills. People do not “need” TV. If you are behind on any bill satellite or cable should go first.

    Let me say this about the conservative position. We don’t care “what” is wrong with you. It’s not our fault and it’s not our responsibility to pay for it. Our position is that God will take care of you or else you must deserve to die. God will decide.

    Ain’t that right, SHO_NUFF,Carolyn,Ratureready (are you? I doubt it),Splatt,The Nameless One, fed up, tired and dad. If people are unemployed, they must be lazy. Let ‘em pray to God for money. No more handouts.

    Stop WIC, stop unemployment, stop food stamps. If you ain’t got money to pay,do without. Your children starving? hey, I didn’t have ‘em, You feed ‘em.Stop farm subsidies, raise the tax on gasoline. We are the conservative mindset and if you don’t have money, you better get some.

    Cut tax on big business, Then they can ship the jobs over seas withut paying for it, Let’s go conservatives! If they dont look like us or think like us ,let ‘em starve.

  5. Just sayin' on April 15th, 2011 10:51 pm

    Century resident,

    I stand behind my statement. It’s true, whether you wish to believe it or not. I know that I look fine, but that doesn’t show you that I have MS and a long litany of other ailments that I sure as heck feel but don’t show to YOU at all. I get really sick of people thinking that they have the right to “berate” me for my “laziness, lack of motivation”, etc when they DON’T KNOW SQUAT!!!! I’m tired of people asking me why I don’t work and then giving me a look like…..oh, yeah, right. I suffer daily, more than I would have thought I could withstand. It’s none of anyone’s business. I don’t have to defend myself to someone to whom I certainly do not owe an explanation.

    Mind your business and I’ll mind mine.

  6. eab on April 15th, 2011 4:31 pm

    Wow. Gotta go with Century girl. This seems like an awful lot of money to spend on nine homes unless the “replaced” outnumber the “rehabilitated”.

  7. dad on April 15th, 2011 4:13 pm

    Just another example of being irresponsible paying off. There are those who genuinely need help and can’t work but many don’t want to work and have too many kids they can’t afford. sigh The workers don’t get help.

  8. Tired-of-It on April 15th, 2011 11:52 am

    I am so tired of the goverment thinking they can spend my money better than I can. I can’t wait until they start taking my whole check so everyone can have the share of my money they think they deserve.

    Call it what you want, but I call it stealing.

    My money is stolen out of each paycheck I earn to give to someone else because they need it more than me and my family.

    Cut ALL of the PROGRAMS out. Yes, even social security. I am so tired of hearing older persons (including my parents) say I paid in, so I should get mine. Well, by the time I get to retirement, there will be nothing left for me and mine.

  9. century resident on April 15th, 2011 9:51 am

    To just saying: Not sure which decade you are living in. Let me tell you I have lived through more than you have. I know what it’s like to have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul, but we made it and LIKE I SAID the ones to get it will not be the ones who really deserve it.. To Just saying, yes I know some people who do not have internet service either, they can’t afford it and are paddling hard to stay afloat ( and bless their heart they are are whinners either. I still say this freebie program is killing America!

  10. jeeperman on April 15th, 2011 9:04 am

    “YOUR taxes are already gone.”
    And more will follow because people like Layla think it is futile to express their displeasure to their gooberment reps that dole out those “already gone” taxes.

  11. EWMS Mom on April 15th, 2011 8:13 am

    Rock on, Layla!

  12. layla on April 15th, 2011 6:42 am

    Why so many haters? This program already exists and someone needy should receive the assistance.

    How about, if YOU know someone who might qualify for this and YOU think they might deserve it, maybe YOU should reach out to YOUR neighbor and let them know this program is out there. Only if YOU think they might deserve it though.

    YOUR taxes are already gone. It’s ignorant to sit around blabbering about how you’re tired of this and that and then not really do anything else. Carry on whining into the abyss of the internet, cause that’ll really make a difference.

  13. Tired! on April 14th, 2011 10:13 pm

    I am tired of working to pay taxes to perpetuate laziness—and if a person is really in need—well, I was in my late forties when I could afford central heat and and a dryer so they can make do like so many other have done—then the kids will have an incentive to do well in school and try for a better life. Why work—when you can get everything the working folks have and do nothing? Why can’t the government understand this? If the roof leaks, put a coffee can under it to catch the water—-that’s what I have done. There is no such thing as a free lunch—-somebody, somewhere has paid for it!!

  14. Just sayin' on April 14th, 2011 8:35 pm

    Again, unless you are a person’s doctor, you don’t know WHAT is wrong with them. There may be things going on inside that prevent them from working but allow them to appear perfectly normal. For example, a person with schizophrenia may not be able to hold down a job, but they will probably look fine to you and me. A disability doesn’t have to be physically or cosmetically disfiguring to be disabling. Only a doctor can make that assessment.

    Yes, some of these will revert to substandard housing, but that’s not necessarily because they don’t want to keep it up. Some people have no way to do so and unfortunately, the community doesn’t seem too eager to help those who need it. There will be some who just flat out abuse it and don’t appreciate it at all, but most of the time, the problem will be that they are simply unable to keep it the way it should be.

    And, yes, the able bodied SHOULD work. I do realize that there are obstacles for some, such as transportation, their appearance, childcare or even previous felony convictions. If we would learn to help people overcome these obstacles so that they could get a job and work, I’m pretty sure the majority would rather work.

  15. Century resident on April 14th, 2011 7:27 pm

    I have lived in Century most of my life and there are some lazy people who live here. They have never did an honest days work in their lives and yet they will be the ones to get the fine houses to live in. Don’t get me wrong for people who need them and aren’t afraid to work they deserve them. I know people here who has been drawing disability checks as long as I can remember and they are no more disabled than I am. I think maybe this is not fair to the rest of the folks. I live in an old palapidated house that most of you would not think of living in, but we keep it up and we paid for it and it belongs to us I just have a lot of mixed feelings about this one……

  16. Oak Grove Bud on April 14th, 2011 6:53 pm

    Rehabilitate substandard housing back to standard housing so they can be turned back to substandard……able bodies ought to have to work for this. Wonder how long it will be before they are substandard again?

  17. Just sayin' on April 14th, 2011 6:26 pm

    And what about those who don’t have tv or internet? Yes, they DO exist. I know one such family, within the city limits.

  18. jeeperman on April 14th, 2011 2:28 pm

    So how long has the Town of Century been sitting on this news?
    Perhaps waiting on any announcement until all of the grant money has been reserved for “the chosen ones”?

    Announced April 14th and the deadline for applications is in two weeks?

    Come on already.

  19. fed-up on April 14th, 2011 10:45 am

    If this money was going to go to grandma or grandpa to fix thier house i would be ok with it. But, thier no good kids leech off them, steal their social security money, and won’t even mow the yards. The neighbors and other volunteers have to clean up the neighborhoods (tons and tons) of trash and now this. Folks take a look atround and see where your tax meney is going. The less you do the more you get. The more you do the more you get taken advantage of. This scam is just another way of a few government administrators making a really good salary to be sure “your money is spent” properly. At work, the saying was “NO GOOD DEED GO UNPUNISHED” and boy it never stops. Programs like this one can only breed resentment and cause hard feelings. Maybe the government needs to heed its own advice and remembear the motto “UNTED WE STAND AND DIVIDED WE FALL” Just about all the people i talk with feel the same way. I give to my church now and nothing else. The time for feeling sorry for anyone but the helpless and very young has come to a ginding halt for my family.

  20. Name (required) on April 14th, 2011 10:17 am

    I am with Carolyn on this one. This is another form of welfare, and where on earth do the grant creators find that this is a proper use of taxpayer funds?

    The posters who complain about working, and just getting by… ARE paying for this! It is an outrage, that hard working people who struggle to provide housing for their families are having TAXES taken from them by force so that some politician can feel good about fixing up someone else s home.

    It is a crime against the tax payers of this (non-socialist) country.

  21. FRANK on April 14th, 2011 9:45 am

    Call, REBUILD NORTH WEST FLORIDA, they would stretch those dollars to twice as many houses.

  22. Splat on April 14th, 2011 9:38 am

    It’s crazy!! My mom has worked her butt of her entire life and can only afford a double wide trailer. She doesn’t have any health insurance and can barely pay the bills…yet she has worked at the same company for 30 years. This is so frustrating the system is so flawed, I wish there was something I could do about it.

  23. RaptureReady on April 14th, 2011 8:00 am

    Wow, I need to move to Century. I work and have 8 people in my house and have never made 50,000 or over. I even lost money in Sept. of last year when my job changed owners. I used to make 38-41k, now, 27-28k.

    I mean this sounds like a good plan for those who cannot work, but if you can work, W O R K ! !

    and they wonder were to cut expenses. HOT HOT HOT

  24. Carolyn Bramblett on April 14th, 2011 6:41 am

    Another kind of welfare.

  25. homegrown on April 14th, 2011 6:31 am

    It just amazes me how only certain areas and certain populations get all the help, The price of gas and groceries are going sky high, so many families are and will continue to struggle but only one group gets help. If the gov’t wants to help why not raise the rate of pay so families can support their families with the rising prices, instead of making 90% of us who are struggling watch only 1 group get help.

  26. Century girl on April 14th, 2011 4:26 am

    $72,000 per home, isn’t this little much per home owner? Why not try to help more substandard home owners with that money, instead of only a few ho
    es for a hand full of people?

  27. SHO-NUFF on April 14th, 2011 3:00 am

    Another Goverment handout. No incentive to get out and work for your money anymore… Sit on your butt long enough and the Goverment will give you all you need!

  28. Concerned Parent on April 14th, 2011 1:29 am

    Great. Now what about the rest of the county north of 9 Mile Road?