Agency updates home-repair list

The list won't solve the city's housing woes, director said.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown Community Development Agency is compiling a new list of local residents seeking money to pay for home repair.
And those on the new list should expect to receive some help in the future, said CDA director Jay Williams.
"When someone's name is on it, now they'll know there's actually a plan to provide some service," Williams said. "If my name was on there six months ago, I didn't know what was going to happen."
The old list -- it was called the Inquiry List -- contained about 1,500 names. Between June 1999 and July 2000 the CDA completed just 37 repair projects.
Phillip Puryear, agency housing director, said that some people had been on the list for more than 10 years. Others were no longer eligible for funding, he said.
Database: The creation of the new list, which will be known as the Homeowner's Rehabilitation Eligibility Database (HRED), will allow local residents to re-state their interest in receiving CDA funding.
Those local residents also won't have to wait in line between people who are not eligible for funding or who no longer live in the area, as they won't be included on the HRED.
Williams stressed that the creation of the new list will not solve Youngstown's housing rehabilitation problem. He noted that a study conducted in 1991 showed that 25 percent of the housing units in the city were in substandard condition. The CDA is not expected to receive additional federal funding to help renovate those homes, Williams said.
"The problem is a lot bigger than this agency," he said.
Resident's plight: That could be bad news for local residents like Beverly Jones.
Jones refuses to sleep in her Garland Avenue home on the city's East Side because it is so dilapidated. Instead, she spends her nights at a neighbor's home.
"Why should I risk my life?" Jones said.
Puryear agreed that the Jones home presents "a dangerous situation." The CDA denied her request for funding, however, because Jones does not live in the home.
Puryear said that due to a lack of money, the CDA can only grant funding to local residents who live in their homes.
"It's not in imminent danger because there's no one living there," Puryear said of Jones' home.
City residents must prove they own and live in their homes to be included on the HRED. They also must prove that they have fully paid their property taxes, water bill and city income taxes.
Letter: The CDA recently sent the 1,500 people on the Inquiry List a letter describing the HRED requirements. Those who respond to the letter by May 8 will have the same spot on the HRED that they had on the Inquiry List.
Those who respond to the letter after May 8 will be added to the end of the HRED.
Puryear said the CDA already has received 100 responses to the letter.