LAFAYETTE, La. — A housing rehabilitation program in Lafayette Parish seeks to help neighbors revitalize their homes. Cynthia Noel is one of the recipients of the Housing Rehabilitation Grant Program, which transformed her home dramatically.
"I feel very, very blessed. I'm overwhelmed. I'm overjoyed," Noel said.
The program aims to help income-qualifying homeowners address housing code violations, ADA compliance, sewer needs, and energy conservation.
In Noel's case, the program fixed her roof, added central AC, stained the walls and floors, redid her bathroom cabinets, installed a new water heater, and much more.
"All of those things are going to be brought back up to current code," said Belle LeBlanc, Human Services Manager with Lafayette Consolidated Government. "It's not like a remodel; it's a rehabilitation."
LeBlanc emphasized the program's broader goals.
"We are really trying to make an investment into our core neighborhoods. We prioritized elderly or disabled adults. We want to keep our homeowners in the community so that they can age in place and have an asset that they worked for their whole life and are able to keep that up and pass that on to their families," she told KATC.
Those who qualify for the grant, can receive a deferred payment loan for up to $50,000, with labor provided by a Community Development and Planning carpentry crew from LCG.
In Noel's situation, the cost of the renovations exceeded $50,000, so she also signed up for a housing loan program at zero percent interest.
LCG also has four homes that are available to participants during the rehabilitation of their home.
"The home itself looks like a totally different home than when I first bought it," Noel said.
Originally from New Orleans, Noel moved into her Lafayette home a year after Hurricane Katrina.
"I'm blessed to have learned about the program and to see its outcome. I'm like, 'Oh Lord, thank you Jesus,' because finally my house was just falling apart. This was breaking, that was breaking."
Noel is now ready to start moving her belongings back in and enjoy her updated home.
For more information on these programs and others, click here.
