County Approves $157,000 to Help Low-income SLP Residents

St. Louis Park would receive $157,000—a 29 percent cut from last year—from a federal program that helps low-income residents with housing issues under a proposal approved by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in a program meant to combat blight and other urgent community issues. Because Congress was late in approving HUD's budget this year, Hennepin County is still waiting to see how much it will receive of the $2.6 million it requested for the program.  

The money mainly goes to helping low-income residents with housing issues, like urgent repairs and remodeling.  

St. Louis Park gives out emergency repair grants of up to $4,000 to help residents fix leaky roofs, plumbing, broken furnaces and other issues.  

The city also lends money to make basic home improvements. The loans are "deferred loans," meaning the resident won't have to pay the money back if he or she stays in the house for 15 years. 

For both programs, residents must be low-income and own the home. More information on how to apply for the program is available on the city's website. 

Kathy Larson, St. Louis Park's housing program coordinator, said the federal dollars will allow the city to give out about 10 grants for emergency repairs and three loans for program repairs. 

"The programs help some of our more vulnerable homeowners stay in their homes, and that's really important," Larson said. "Even if we just help a few homes, that's a few homes that are more affordable, and that really helps our residents." 

Some of the money will go to helping Habitat for Humanity—a non-profit that builds affordable housing—buy a lot where a home was demolished near Oak Hill Park. Habitat will build a new single-family home there. 

A small chunk of the dollars will go to summer parks and recreation programming at Meadowbrook Park and Willow Park, which are in lower income areas of the city, Larson said. 

"The program is extremely important for the city, and for our low- and moderate-income residents," said Michele Schnitker, the city's housing supervisor. "The people who utilize the program are often seniors on a fixed income or low-income families, and it helps them with basic things, like a water heater going out. It's a really important resource for us." 

The loans are distributed through the Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin County, which is based in St. Louis Park and offers counseling on housing issues to all county residents. CAPSH workers will assess the need for housing repairs and verify that the work gets done. 

"These dollars are critical as the housing stock is aging," said Marcy Harris, director of planning and development at CAPSH. "People don't have the ability to live in their house or keep their houses safe without this type of assistance. It's especially critical with the number of people facing economic uncertainty or who are just plain poor."

Hennepin County Commissioners unanimously approved the request on Tuesday. HUD has said it will decide the amounts counties will receive by the end of the month.