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SCHENECTADY
Home repair grant money available Few seniors taking advantage of offer
BY JESSICA HARDING Gazette Reporter

    With the state of the economy, it is no surprise that people are having trouble making ends meet and many social services agencies are depleting their resources. It is a surprise, however, when one of those agencies can't find enough people to take their money.
    The Community Land Trust of Schenectady is actively looking for people to use money it received to fund a program to help low-income seniors with emergency home repairs.
    The Land Trust received about $200,000 for the RESTORE program, which stands for Residential Emergency Services to Offer Repairs to the Elderly.
    The Land Trust put the word out about the program in December through the media as well as its partners in the city, including Umbrella of the Capital Region and senior centers, but has only given away three grants, two for the maximum amount of $7,500 and one for $2,200.
    “We’ve been having difficulty getting it out the door,” Executive Director Bev Burnett said. “We sent fliers to all our partners ... We’re getting zero response.”
    Burnett said she even went to homes that were damaged during the last ice storm to see if seniors lived in them and could qualify for the program.
The Land Trust has about $180,000 in its RESTORE program that it needs to use by the end of September, or it loses the money. “If we don’t get the money out by Sept. 30, the contract ends and the money goes back to the state,” Burnett said.
Two years ago, the Trust received $75,000 to run the program, and within a month the money had been committed, Burnett said.
“This is a phenomenon that we don’t understand this year,” she said.
Umbrella of the Capital District, a nonprofit organization that serves seniors throughout the Capital District, has also received $125,000 for the RESTORE program.
    Director Ron Byrne said this is the first time Umbrella has received money for this program. They were notified of the award last week, so he can’t say how well it’s going.
    The South End Improvement Corp. in Albany County, Rivercrest Development Corp. in Montgomery County and Shelters of Saratoga Inc. in Saratoga County have also received grants to run a RESTORE program.
    Last time The Land Trust ran the program, Burnett said, about 85 percent of the grants were for roof repairs. Burnett said with all the snow this year, roof repairs are difficult.
    The only stipulations to qualify for the grant money is to be 60 or older and have up-to-date mortgage and homeowner’s insurance.
    The grant does not need to be repaid, but a three-year lien is put on the house to ensure that the owner doesn’t immediately sell the home after repairs are complete. If the owner were to sell the house within the three years, the grant money would have to be repaid.
    Burnett said the Land Trust is ............................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00903

Another tax break for the seniors that they're not taking?  A senior USED TO live in my house (before I bought it).  Is there a way that I can get some of the remodeling money for repairs they SHOULD HAVE done?

Money going back to the state since we can't spend it?  Isn't the state looking to cut every corner anyway?  Give it back now!