City Of Savannah Announces Home Repair Partnership

UPDATE: A partnership between the City of Savannah and the nonprofit Community Help will help 85-year-old Lucy Grant and a host of other Savannah seniors make vital repairs to their homes.

As workers laid a new roof on Ms. Grant’s East Savannah home, City and Community Help officials gathered during a Monday news conference to talk about the program that made it happen.

“This is an example of the private sector and government working together,” said Alderman John Hall, who represents the neighborhood. “Working together does work, and I am so pleased that Ms. Grant is the beneficiary. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.”

Ms. Grant, a longtime East Savannah resident, was presented with a blown up $2,000 check from Community Help. That money, combined with a $5,000 grant from the City and a $2,900 no-interest loan from the City, will cover the cost of a desperately needed new roof.

City of Savannah Housing Director Martin Fretty said this kind of partnership was exactly what was needed during a time when the federal government continued to reduce Savannah’s share of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, which pays for the repairs.

Community Help plans on partnering with the City on several similar home repair projects.

This year the City of Savannah plans on making repairs to roughly 150 homes throughout Savannah. The bulk of those repairs are made through the City’s Summer Volunteer Home Repair Program, which utilizes hundreds of volunteers each summer to fix up elderly homes across the community. Elderly residents in Savannah can apply for inclusion by calling 912-651-6517.

The City of Savannah Housing Department’s Home Repair Program has helped make vital repairs to hundreds of homes owned by low-income seniors in Savannah. Recent reductions in federal funding, however, have put a strain on this program. Community Help has recently stepped in to provide gap funding for repairs above City limits.

85-year-old Lucy Grant, who is the first beneficiary of this partnership In the case of Ms. Grant, the City is paying for about two-thirds the cost of a new roof for her home, while Community Help will pay the remaining third.

Work on the roof will be under way during the 1 p.m. news conference.