County, Rebuild Upstate, Team Up to Repair Homes in Anderson
Observer Reports
Anderson County, Rebuild Upstate, a nonprofit organization serving Upstate South Carolina, and AIM are teaming up to repair qualified owner-occupied housing units in the community.
“This initiative is part of our comprehensive effort to promote neighborhood stabilization” said Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn. “Through this program, we will be able to help lower income homeowners keep their houses safe, secure, and inhabitable. We’ll also be able to prevent deterioration of the housing stock in areas vulnerable to blight and neglect, which prevents the need for us to go in and tear down dilapidated structures at taxpayer expense.”
The county’s building and codes department currently has identified more than 250 records of substandard housing units in the county. Many of these cases stem from a homeowner not having the means to make necessary repairs to their roofs, plumbing, and key structural components.
Rebuild Upstate serves low-income homeowners with repairs and accessibility improvements to create safe, livable housing in existing homes and neighborhoods in Greenville, Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee counties. Its team envisions a community where everyone has the opportunity to live a life of dignity in a safe home environment in order to maintain and foster strong, sustainable communities. Learn more at www.rebuildupstate.org.
“We see so many times these situations where a homeowner gets a leak in their roof, and the leak gets worse and worse over time because they just don’t have the money to make repairs” said Rebuild Upstate CEO Jake Beaty. “We’re looking to fix these things before they become unfixable. We are very excited about this partnership with Anderson County. Since the beginning of our organization, Anderson has been one of the counties we have served. These funds will enable us to repair even more homes, helping families to be safer and avoid displacement. We are looking forward to a long and continued partnership with Anderson County moving forward.”
The partnership is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s HOME program. Anderson County is a member of the local HOME Consortium and will provide these federal funds to Rebuild Upstate under the auspices of a subrecipient agreement.
The program is available only for owner-occupied housing units, and homeowners must meet income qualifications. An assistance application is available online at www.rebuildupstate.org. Homeowners may also call Rebuild Upstate’s Helpline at (864) 643-5711 or contact by email to info@rebuildupstate.org