OVERVIEW
The Residential Emergency Services to Offer (Home) Repairs to the Elderly (RESTORE) program provides financial resources to assist senior citizen homeowners age sixty and over, with the cost of addressing emergencies and code violations that pose a threat to their health and safety or affect the livability of their home. Assistance for the cost of these critical repairs will enable seniors to continue to live independently in their homes.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants for the RESTORE programs are units of local government and not-for-profit corporations that have been providing relevant service to the community for at least one year prior to application.
Eligible Participants
An eligible participant must meet the following criteria:
- Owns and occupies the residential unit receiving assistance as a primary residence.
- Must be sixty years of age or older.
- Household income not to exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the area median income.
Eligible Activities
Grant funds may be used to assist homeowners with the completion emergency repairs, or addressing code violations. An eligible emergency repair eliminates a hazardous condition or deficiency that poses an immediate threat to the life, health or safety or the elderly homeowner. Review the RESTORE Program Manual for more information related to eligible activities: https://hcr.ny.gov/restore-program#program-manual.
Forms & Documents
| Commitment & Disbursement of RESTORE Funds |
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| Authorized Signature Form |
| Designation of Depository for Direct Deposit Form |
| Disbursement Instructions |
| Administrative Funds Detail Sheet |
| Project Detail Sheet |
| Project Set-Up and Completion Form |
| Property Maintenance Declaration |
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| Instructions for Completing Property Maintenance Declaration |
| Property Maintenance Declaration Exemption |
| Instructions for Completing Exemption |
| Environmental Review |
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| Environmental Site Certification Form & Attachment A |
| Human Remains Discovery & Unanticipated Discoveries Protocols |
Program Manual
On August 8, 2022, Governor Hochul signed a bill into law making administrative changes to the RESTORE Program. These changes were effective immediately and apply to the FY22 funding round. The bill was signed after the current application was programmed and not all changes were able to be reflected, but will apply for the FY22 funding round. The RESTORE LPA Manual is current and a recommended resource for applicants.
Following are the programmatic changes enacted on August 8, 2022 with citations in the RESTORE LPA Manual for reference:
- Increased the individual project cap from $10,000 to $20,000 (See LPA Manual, Pg. 10, 25).
- Increased the administrative fee for Local Program Administrators from 7.5% to 10%. (See LPA Manual, Pg. 25).
- Eliminated certain restrictive project benchmarks to now state that all repairs must be completed within sixty business days of the start of the repairs provided (See LPA Manual, Pg. 12).
Funding Round Materials
Resources
Municipalities and not-for-profit organizations are eligible to apply for RESTORE program resources, homeowners and individuals are not eligible to apply directly to HCR for assistance. Once selected for funding, these municipalities and not-for-profit organizations become “Local Program Administrators” and provide assistance to eligible homeowners. A list of grants currently available through Local Program Administrators and a directory of a statewide network of housing and community development not-for-profits is available online, here: https://hcr.ny.gov/grants-available-through-local-partners