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SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah locales — Salt Lake County and the six counties that make up central Utah — will receive nearly 50% of the funding set aside for the Mountain West region to make homes safer.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Friday that $6.8 million was awarded between South Dakota and Utah, not a large percentage of the $223 million the agency doled out across 33 states but dollars that will be used once programs are created.
"This was a great opportunity, especially for a rural community. ... We have the same needs as larger communities," said Kerrielynn Beard, program director for the R6 Regional Council, which includes Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties. "We're really excited ... people, seniors, will be able to stay in their homes longer."
The dollars are intended to prevent families from getting ill from the home health hazards that can exist in a home for years. Lead paint that has not been removed safely, modifications not done to homes to prevent injuries to seniors, and pests running around are a few examples of what county agencies can remove or address with these dollars.
Applicants for these funds had to express what they would do with the award and which of the following four categories would be their focus:
- Seniors, aged 62 and over, living independently and safely.
- Multiple home hazards.
- Protection from lead poisoning.
- Controlling and understanding the hazards that are in the home.
The R6 Regional Council, which applied for and received $1.46 million, will focus on keeping seniors in their homes safe. They will work with area physical rehabilitation centers and assisted living homes to determine who needs the modification and what those modifications should be.
Salt Lake County was awarded $2 million to address multiple health hazards in the home. This can include lead paint but also the presence of radon and carbon monoxide gases, anything that causes asthma in the home, and anything else that is preventing someone from walking around or breathing in their home.
"This is a great start," said Britnee Dabb, deputy director of the Salt Lake Housing Authority. It will receive much of the funds in Salt Lake County to start this work in its 1,800 authority-owned units.
"If we show them what we're able to do, hopefully we may get more funds. ... The need is growing, and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon," Dabb said.
The HUD funds are reimbursable, meaning the applicants must spend money first and get reimbursed after the fact, and they have 42 months to apply it to projects in their communities.
Staff from the national HUD office pointed out that Salt Lake County has been a longtime grantee of the program, noting that the county knows how to receive the funding and get it to where it needs to go. The office trusts that the R6 Council will do the same.
Still, federal officials remind people that just because a county office has received the dollars does not mean it will have an easy time getting it to people.
"You'd think it'd be really easy to give out, but it's hard," said Michelle Medeiros, deputy director of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. "It's hard because people don't always want the help. ... I would encourage folks to reach out (to the agencies) to find out more information.
"Anything they can do to reach out to the (counties) directly would be great," she said.
