Liberty County residents are thankful today since learning of the valuable resources available through USDA and the Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program in Liberty County. Before Hurricane Harvey, Community and Economic Development specialist and county agents organized a series of home buying and home repair seminars educating the public on the resources available to rural communities. USDA offers a variety of programs that assist the public in purchasing, refinancing, and repairing homes in rural communities. Applicants living in rural communities can apply to the USDA 502 Direct Loan Program which comes with perks such as no down payment, as low as 1% interest rate, and up to a 38-year mortgage for very low-income applicants. Mr. Motton has several clients who have started their home buying process and continues to assist them in their application. USDA also offers to eligible applicants, repair loans, and grants through its Section 504 Home Repair program. This program provides loans to very-low-income homeowners to repair, improve or modernize their homes including grants to elderly very-low-income homeowners to remove health and safety hazards. Community members may borrow up to $20,000 per project and receive $7,500 in grant funding to do home repairs. One family recently received a grant of $6,500 with the assistance of Mr. Motton and was able to renovate their bathroom that suffered from water leaks, damaged flooring, and a substandard tub.

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Programs like the 504 and 502 USDA programs continue to be a tremendous resource for rural communities and are becoming increasingly needed tools in response to hurricane Harvey.

Jimmy Henry
Jimmy Henry
Program Leader, Community and Economic Development
(936) 261-5115
jlhenry@pvamu.edu