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NIC in running for $50K Pepsi Refresh grant
YOUNGSTOWN
A local nonprofit organization is a contender for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh grant that would be used to improve neighborhood homes.
Patricia Dougan, chairwoman of the Neighborhood Improvement Corps, submitted the grant proposal, which would help elderly, low-income and disabled city residents fix their homes.
“As a city, we support high code enforcement, but at the same time, the Brookings [Institution] has said we have the highest concentration of poverty than any other metro area,” she said, meaning people who want to keep up their homes, sometimes can’t afford it.
The program would seek referrals from the city’s Property Maintenance Appeals Board and those individuals would have to prove they are low income.
“Most people want to keep it [their property] up. But people have been here forever, and houses wear down and some residents don’t have the income to do big projects like the roof,” Dougan said.
The grant’s proposed budget includes $250 to print educational materials; $7,200 to provide paint for 10 homes; $22,000 to contract for home painting; $7,500 to contract for three roof repairs; and $13,050 to purchase materials for city fix-up days.
Maureen O’Neil-Farris is coordinator for the Property Maintenance Appeals Board, which meets monthly.
Farris said a homeowner with code violations will receive a notice, and if the violation isn’t corrected in 30 days, the city fines the person and uses court for serious cases or repeat offenders.
“It allows the city some flexibility in dealing with housing code violations and allows the city to process a larger volume of them” than a strictly court process, she said.
Farris, who also is on the NIC board, said the program the Pepsi Refresh grant would fund is needed and that the two targets, paint and roof improvements, are the most common types of violations the city cites.
The NIC has completed these types of projects before with “Paint the Town” and “Raise the Roof,” which helped home- owners on Third Street, Lucius Avenue and High Street, among others, Dougan said.
The grant winner is determined by online voting.
Voting for this grant cycle goes through the end of the month.
“The key is to vote every day and only vote for one of the $50,000 projects,” Dougan said.