BRUNSWICK COUNTY, Va. -- Residents in Brunswick County gathered at a cafe on Friday to learn about a federal program that gives homeowners in rural counties money to repair their homes.
"I think it's a wonderful program and opportunity that I wouldn't have known anything about," said one resident.
The program is offered by the United States Department of Agriculture and is called the Section 504 Repair Program.
"It's designed for individuals in rural communities all across the country," said Perry Hickman with the Virginia office of the USDA's Rural Development Department. "I wanted to make them aware of the fact that we're available to them to assist with making necessary repairs to the home so they can actually stay in their home."
There are two different parts to the program, the first option is a grant where homeowners can get up to $10,000 for home repairs.
"First requirement is being above the age of 62, to be eligible for the grant. The second criteria would be that their income falls in what we consider very low," said Hickman. "With that $10,000 it will actually be allowing them to remove health and safety hazards in the home, but we do have other options if their repairs are above that amount."
The second option is a loan that goes up to $40,000. The loan has a fixed interest rate of 1% and is open to any homeowner whose household income does now exceed what’s considered very low by the county.
"They're going to be different income levels based on counties and also depending upon the number of individuals that are in the household. That's going to make a determination for what they're eligible for," said Hickman.
It is a program Hickman said he hopes more people take advantage of and encourages anyone interested to reach out to their office directly at 804-287-1500. You can also find more information about the program on their website.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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