Womack has been with NHP since 2014, and in his tenure has seen a growing for the kind of assistance NHP offers.
“We have older housing stock, much of it in need of repair and rehabilitation. We can help homeowners find resources to do the work through grants from the city and the state,” he said.
The group’s goal each year is “to identify 100 projects we can assist homeowners with, ranging from roof repairs, the replacement of electrical panels, furnaces, air conditioners, and the like - improvements really important to enable people to remain in and maintain their homes.”
Womacks added, “We have a project manager who is a licensed home inspector who meets with homeowners about their needs, helps them identify a contractor to work with and assures that the homeowner is completely happy with the final work. Then we revisit six months later to make sure they are still satisfied.”
Sometimes these projects help community members “age in place,” finding ways to modify homes to meet changing needs as people grow older. Other times projects may be targeted to new homeowners who want to improve the property they have purchased. All of the participants qualify for economic assistance through an evaluation process that is based on the area’s median income. Both low and moderate income households can qualify.
Most recently, NHP has worked in partnership with the city of Springfield to develop new single and multi-family housing. That includes new construction of rental units designed to meet the accessibility and affordability needs of senior citizens, such as City View Senior Rental Housing, 12 new senior apartments on Drexel Avenue, behind the former South High School and near the gateway to Springfield’s central city.
Clifton Court, designed to attract market rate buyers as well as provide affordable homeownership for families with moderate incomes, is a collaboration of public and private sources including NHP, NeighborWorks America, local lenders, the City of Springfield, Turner Foundation, and private donations.
The Community Gardens Senior Rental Housing project offers fully accessible, zero steps, attached garages rental units located in a pocket neighborhood with acres of interconnected walking paths. Expansion of the Community Gardens concept is already planned. Partners include Ohio Housing Finance Agency, Federal Home Loan Bank, City of Springfield, HUD, NeighborWorks America, Buckeye Hope Community Foundation, and Ohio Capital Corporation.
Another high impact offering of NHP is financial coaching and financial literacy education that helps people improve their understanding of financial management. It can help participants improve their credit score and take other steps to qualify for affordable home loans and grants for housing purchases or projects. The NHP financial coaches have all completed training and are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those educational offerings will now be available at the new satellite location, housed in the annex of the Church of Jesus Family Worship Center, located at 629 S. Center Street in Springfield. Church leader Bishop Ann Pratt is very supportive of NHP efforts and hopes the satellite office will have a positive impact that extends beyond her congregation into the larger community.
An open house is planned for Tuesday, October 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. to celebrate the 20 years NHP has marked serving the community and to introduce the new satellite office. Tours will be provided along with information about all the assistance available through NHP. The public is welcome to attend.
Additional information about NHP and its services is available at www.springfieldnhp.org.
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