KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More than two dozen homes on the eastside of Kansas City, Missouri, could get a makeover. Thanks to a new grant program, nearly $500,000 is up for grabs from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
Four neighborhoods — North Blue Ridge, Sheffield, Blue Valley, and McCoy Park — are eligible to receive money for home repairs.
“One of the reasons why we particularly picked these four neighborhoods is because we've never really addressed them with any city home-repair programs before and because of the age of the housing stock here, they really do need some upgrades and some work,” said John Baccala, a city spokesman for Kansas City's Neighborhoods and Housing Services Department in the KCMO Communications Office.
Money from the $476,000 grant only can be spent on house exteriors — such as siding, painting, windows, concrete work, or fixing the roof.
To qualify, the person must own the house and meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s low-income guidelines.
Baccala said they will shell approximately $15,000 to $20,000 per house in hopes of revitalizing the neighborhoods.
“We're not going to be able to build our urban core if we can't keep people in these homes, and that's why primarily why we're doing this,” Baccala said.
One of those neighborhoods,
North Blue Ridge Neighborhood Association President Julie Boye is thrilled the neighborhood is getting some attention
“Sometimes over here, we have felt ignored in the pastm" she said.
It’s a neighborhood Boye has called home for a long time and she wants to see something done to improve it. These grants may kick start a transformation.
“We are so excited," she said. "We have a lot of lower-income people in our neighborhood that own and live in their homes, and we're trying to improve the neighborhood as a whole and this is a great opportunity to give homeowners that extra little help that they may need to make those improvements."
With the home improvements, Boye also hopes the neighborhoods fortunes also will improve in other ways.
“It's a great little neighborhood, and we hope that we can help improve it,” she said.
If you live in one of the neighborhoods, own your home, and are interested in applying for a grant, call the city at 816-513-3200. The program will continue through November 2020 or until the money runs out.
