PORT JERVIS – A combination of grants secured for the City of Port Jervis will make it possible for approximately 16 homes to be rehabilitated.
The Regional Community Action Program – RECAP – obtained a $380,000 HOME grant from the state and that leverages a $350,000 Affordable Housing Corporation grant and $165,000 from the Port Jervis Community Development Agency.
Improvements will include health and safety items such as roofs, windows, energy efficiency improvements, electrical, plumbing and heating upgrades, said Mayor Kelly Decker.
RECAP President John Cappello said the funds will assist families in owner-occupied homes make improvements that they could not otherwise afford.
“Our mission is to give folks a hand up out of poverty and giving that hand up out of poverty is not only morally correct, it really benefits your community by providing more affordable housing stock for families to live in, will bring not only energy but dollars into your community and hopefully that will entice companies to locate in the area because they will know there are places for their workers to live,” Cappello said.
RECAP also provides funding for similar programs in the cities of Middletown and Newburgh but the agency selected Port Jervis for this funding because officials noted that city is often forgotten, but with same needs as the others.
