James and Daisy Stinson’s roof was nearly caving in four months ago. At their Midland Avenue home, water dripped into the living room and the basement had no lighting.
“When you get Social Security, you’re on a fixed income,” said James. “And if something goes wrong with your house you can’t get it fixed.”
James, 63, and his wife Daisy Stinson, 66, are among Syracuse residents struggling to pay for essential repairs to keep their homes safe and sanitary. Some, like the Stinsons, get help through tax-supported low-interest loans. But the city is also struggling to fund the loans and to generate more help for those needing better housing.
“In the past, there had been a smaller and smaller amount of funds available from community development going into those bricks and mortar programs each year,” said Kerry Quaglia, the executive director of Home HeadQuarters, Inc. It is a not-for-profit organization that works with low-income applicants to get low-interest loans and grants for home repairs.
Consider this statistic on housing conditions in Syracuse: of the 31,538 occupied dwellings in the city 1,606 have more than one code violation for safety or sanitation. That’s slightly more than 5 percent.
The main source for housing help in the city is Home HeadQuarters, Inc. The organization takes applications from people seeking financial help for home repairs and distributes loans and grants with public money. Much of the public money comes from the city’s Community Development Block Grant funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In 2009, Home HeadQuarters helped 250 people make home improvements through $1 million in loans and grants from the federal government, said Karen Schroeder, the organization’s marketing and resource development manager. Since it was created in 1996, Home HeadQuarters, Inc. has distributed $43 million in grants and loans to 3,400 people for home repairs.
“We’re helping people who have leaky roofs, the furnace is red-tagged, or they’ve got backed-up sewers,” Quaglia said. “Very urgent repairs.”
In her first state of the city address on Jan. 28, new mayor Stephanie Miner vowed to work to fix Syracuse’s housing issues. And in an early move, Miner fired eight employees whose salaries were being paid out of the federal Community Development Block Grant.
“The city will spend less on Community Development Block Grant administrative and technical costs and put more money into housing rehab and building efforts,” Miner said in her state of the city address.
Patrick Hogan, Democrat and common councilor from the 2nd district, sits on the committee for neighborhood preservation. He praised Miner for getting rid of the employees and switching their salaries to housing programs. “We think it’ll garner $900,000 to $1 million for housing,” Hogan said.
The elimination of the eight salaries will equal the amount that Home HeadQuarters, Inc. was able to distribute for home improvements last year.
To cut the salaries, the Miner administration combined the economic development and community development departments, forming the neighborhood and business development department.
To get more money for housing, the city also is watching out for stimulus package money from Washington needs, said Sharon Owens, the deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development. “The ultimate goal is to have every community have safe affordable housing,” Owens said.
At the Midland Avenue home of James and Daisy Stinson, the family is relieved to sit in the living room now without being wet or cold. The Stinsons repaired their leaky roof with a grant and a low-interest loan from Home HeadQuarters, Inc.
The help was a blessing to the whole family, the Stinsons said. When the roof caved back in October, James and Daisy were already struggling to cope with medical bills on their fixed income from Social Security. He is a retired grinder inspector and she is a retired day-care provider. James has $400 in co-pays a month for medications for a heart condition and diabetes. Daisy is battling lung cancer. Daisy was prescribed eight new medications in mid-February.
One of the couple’s four daughters, Jackie Stinson, chips in for Daisy’s co-pays. That’s about $350 a month, said Jackie.
Jackie found Home HeadQuarters, Inc. while exploring loan options on the internet. She and her sister, Kathy Hutchinson, were planning on financing a loan through a bank to pay for their parents’ roof before she found the organization, Jackie said.“It would have been stressful,” said Jackie. “But if we would have had to do it, we would have done it.”
Now only James and Daisy live permanently in the house on the city’s South Side. But it is still a focal point for the couple’s extended family. All holiday gatherings and family parties happen at the Midland Avenue residence, Jackie said. “Me and my sister are here,” she said, “every day after work with our kids.”
For his part, James Stinson expresses gratitude for the repairs that made whole again the home that has held so many memories. “It means,” he said, “everything.”
(Justin Sondel is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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