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State housing authority gives $600k for emergency home repairs

Katie Peikes
/
Delaware Public Media
State officials and residents stand together with the $600,000 check for the Statewide Emergency Repair Program

Delawareans with homes in need of urgent fixes can get help through a new emergency repair program announced Tuesday.

 

The Milford Housing Development Corporation is launching a statewide rehabilitation program for emergency home issues, with help from $600,000 from the Delaware State Housing Authority.

 

“This is just another way that we’re able to to help people in homes that may have had an emergency situation and get them back to where they have pride in their home," Milford Mayor Bryan Shupe said.

 

Shupe said some residents tend to deviate from city code because they don’t have the money to fix their homes, but with the DSHA funds, the city’s housing development corporation can help residents in Milford and elsewhere throughout the state who need work on their homes.

 

The program will address issues such as damaged furnaces and flooding, both of which Millsboro resident Betty Zurmon experienced. Zurmon has already received help from the DSHA and MHDC through a prior partnership.

 

“I had no money, I just sat there with a space heater,” Zurmon said. “I was really desperate and a gentleman I knew just said, ‘Try Milford, I hear they do something, maybe they’ll do it for you'.”

 

Zurman also received recent repairs under the new Statewide Emergency Repair Program. She had a broken pipe fixed just a few weeks ago, said Dan Shortridge, the director of public relations for DSHA.

 

DHSA Director Anas Ben Addi expects the average eligible homeowner will receive around $7,000 for repairs. Ben Addi said that will allow the state to address most people who apply, though he’d like to find more money and resources for the program.

 

“At the end of the day we want also to avoid them losing their house and being evicted and being one family experiencing homelessness,” Ben Addi said.

 

Homeowners can apply for the Statewide Emergency Repair Program through Milford Housing Development. To qualify, you’ll need to have lived in your home for at least one year.