Congressman Jim Walsh and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll have announced a plan to spend $1 milllion to restore rundown parts of six Syracuse neighborhoods. The neighborhoods include the Valley, Westlawn, Eastwood, the Near West Side, Prospect Hill and Tipperary Hill.
The money comes from federal funds Walsh funnels into Syracuse from Washington through his federal program the Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative. Since SNI began seven years ago, Walsh has brought nearly $50 million to Syracuse to help renovate rundown, abandoned buildings and build new homes. Before Walsh retires at the start of 2009, he will bring two more rounds of federal money to the city's neighborhoods. A portion of this round of $1 million dollars will be used to provide home improvement grants to people who can't afford to make necessary home repairs.
Amanda Pascall works for Home HeadQuarters--a non profit agency that distributes home improvement grants and provides housing advice. Pascall says making these home repairs is often necessary to avoid the abandonment of another building in Syracuse. But there are strings attached to the federal money. Only people who have homeowners insurance and who are paid up on their taxes and water bill qualify for the federal aid. But Pascall says those who don't qualify need the money the most. Many peoples' homes are so rundown they can't get insurance until repairs are made.
Pascall says federal money is a huge help, but since it can't help everyone other investors need to be considered. The Gifford Foundation is a private, charitable organization in Syracuse that gives out home improvement grants from an endowment left by the late Rosamond Gifford in the amount of $27 million. Rosamond Gifford was the only child of one of the most prominent families in Syracuse and left her inheritance to the city.
Pascall says it takes money from Congressman Walsh's Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative and private investors to help fix up rundown neighborhoods.
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