Over the past eight years the Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant program has funneled more than $14 million toward vital housing needs of Martha’s Vineyard residents. Thanks to concerted last minute lobbying by Island leaders over recent weeks, it will continue to do so.
But it was a close-run thing.
Five of the six Island towns are applying for Community Development Block Grants for the 2011 fiscal year, with more applications than ever expected this year from needy residents. At their meeting Tuesday, Aquinnah selectmen praised the block grant program, which this year includes funds for rehabilitating homes and child care assistance for income-eligible residents. Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury are all applying for grants.
Edgartown selectmen voted Monday to reapply for a housing rehabilitation program under the federal Community Development Block Grant that allows eligible homeowners to borrow up to $35,000 for critical home repairs.
Under the grant, homeowners who make 80 per cent or less of median income are eligible for the no-interest loans, which are forgivable over a period of 15 years.
