Marlborough – Mayor Arthur G. Vigeant announced that the city of Marlborough and the Habitat for Humanity MetroWest Greater Worcester (Habitat MWGW) are moving forward with performing critical home repairs on two homes in Marlborough in November. Vigeant met with Habitat officials over a year ago to see if their programs can help veterans, seniors and family homeowners in need of critical repairs to their homes.
Marlborough’s Critical Home Repair Program offers assistance to families in need of exterior home repairs to address critical health, life and safety issues. These are not grants but loans which must be repaid. As a member of the Home Depot Repair Corps and through their partnership with Thrivent Financial, Habitat MWGW provides a wide variety of repairs at a very affordable rate. Marlborough, through its Community Development Authority, has been working with Habitat to reach out to Marlborough’s homeowners and to screen applicants.
“We thank the city of Marlborough and the Marlborough Community Development Authority for partnering with us to bring stability and safety to two local homes in need of repair in the French Hill area,” said David Hamilton, manager of Habitat MWGW’s Critical Home Repair program. “By joining forces we can maximize the funding we are able to invest in critical home repairs.”
“We are excited to offer these small but crucial loans to Marlborough residents to fund critical repairs and improvements to their homes,” Vigeant noted. “Even a minor project can go a long way to improving a resident’s quality of life and I look forward to expanding this program in the future.”
In one of the homes, Habitat MWGW will replace the heating system, and in the second home, a new wheelchair ramp and deck repair will ensure that a local veteran will be able to safely traverse his home. Two additional projects are scheduled for 2018.
To take part in the program, families must own their home, be in need of significant repairs on their homes and be income qualified. This program provides services including, but not limited to, wheelchair ramp installation, roof replacement, siding repair, and landscaping. The modifications must be completed on the primary residence and the repairs must be essential to the individual’s ability to function in the home. Participants must be current on their mortgage, property taxes and insurance and be willing to partner with Habitat for Humanity. Qualifying families are required to invest 20-30 hours of sweat equity on their repair, or another Habitat project. The families also agree to pay back the loans provided by the city over a 50-year term.
For more information, visit http://www.habitatmwgw.org/.
