Family of Five has New Home for the New Year

January 19, 2018 – NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and Rebuilding Together Saratoga County celebrate a new home for a Town of Wilton family of five after a devastating fire last year. HCR provided the funding for the removal and replacement of the family’s manufactured home through the federal HOME program.

David Johnson and Elizabeth Millett, along with their three grandchildren, lost their home at 21 Nichols Road to a fire on March 27, 2017. Rebuilding Together Saratoga County replaced the family’s manufactured home using approximately $95,000 in HOME Manufactured Housing Replacement funds.

HCR Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, “We are so pleased that the Johnson family is safe and secure in their new home after enduring such a terrible loss. Through the hard work and dedication of our many nonprofit and municipal partners across the state, we are able to carry out Governor Cuomo’s commitment to ensure that all New Yorkers have a place to call home. Thanks to Rebuilding Together Saratoga County for their quick response to this urgent need.”

Rebuilding Together Saratoga County Executive Director Michelle Larkin said, “Thanks to the funding we received from the state, we were able to help the Johnson Family restart their lives with a new home. Rebuilding Together Saratoga County is proud to work with community partners to ensure residents can live independently in warm, dry, and safe housing.”

HCR’s Housing Trust Fund Corporation administers the federal HOME program for New York State. The program uses federal HOME Investment Partnership Program funds to expand the supply of decent, safe, and affordable housing within the State.

HOME funds are awarded to Local Program Administrators to acquire, rehabilitate, or construct housing, or to provide assistance to low-income home-buyers and renters through the following six activities: homebuyer assistance with or without housing rehabilitation; homebuyer development projects; homeowner housing rehabilitation with or without rental units; manufactured housing replacement; rental rehabilitation program; and tenant based rental assistance. HOME program funds may only be used to assist households with incomes at or below 80 percent of area median income.  

Manufactured housing replacement funds may be requested to assist an owner to demolish and dispose of a sub-standard manufactured home and replace it with a new manufactured home. Manufactured homes are an important source of affordable housing in New York.

Rebuilding Together Saratoga County

Rebuilding Together Saratoga County was founded in 2003 by Michelle Larkin with the support of her husband, Dan; friends and family from the Saratoga community; and the National Rebuilding Together organization. Rebuilding Together Saratoga County is an affiliate of the national Rebuilding Together organization, which was founded in 1988, and now consists of 142 affiliates helping homeowners in need in communities across the country. In the 14 years since founding, Rebuilding Together Saratoga County has renovated and revitalized 979 homes and 80 nonprofit centers with the help of more than 875 volunteers who have dedicated more than 50,000 hours of their time, bringing hope and renewed pride to homeowners in need throughout Saratoga County.