Wilson Thompson, a father of two said a sudden fire at his home in St. Martinville has ripped his family a part.
"My house caught on fire at the beginning of the year," Thompson said. "I been struggling, trying to clean it a little bit at a time, but they got a grant coming and I'm trying to apply for the grant."
That grant — also known as the "Clearance Grant Program" is open to residential and property owners in St. Martinville who are seeking demolition and restoration services from the federal government.
Thompson's daughter, Kanesha said her family has been taking life one day at a time, but it's hard not having a place to call their own.
"I lost a lot, really," Kanesha said. "Sometimes, I didn't know where I was going to lay my head at...I'm still struggling until now," Kanesha said.
Her father, Wilson said he picked up the initial application to apply for the Clearance Grant Program on Tuesday and he's hopeful the government will help provide him and his family with some relief.
The city's Mayor, Jason Willis said the funding is designed to help make St. Martinville more beautiful and to help people with blighted properties they're unable to fix on their own.
"This will give you the opportunity to clean your property meaning the demolition," Willis said. "Contractors will go out and with excavators, they'll knock your house down, your mobile home...your commercial property...they'll have dumpsters on site, they'll put it in the dumpster and they'll haul all of the debris off and your property will be cleared."
Applications can be picked up and submitted to staff at City Hall. The deadline to submit an application is June 23.
