CHIP grant application to be posted Friday; county staff outline repair, rehab rules for Struthers residents

Phil Purrier, program director for the Mahoning County Healthy Homes for Red House referral program, told a Struthers City Council meeting that the CHIP grant application will be posted on the Mahoning County website on Friday and distributed in-print at county offices for residents who need paper copies.

Purrier outlined who is eligible and how applications are processed, saying the program accepts households at or below the 80% area median-income limits this year. He gave the income limits the application uses as examples: $44,800 for a single-person household, $64,000 for a four-person household and $84,500 for an eight-person household. "It's a little invasive. I apologize," Purrier said of the documentation the program requires when staff verify income and assets.

Purrier described two program tracks: a rehab program for substantial repairs that bring a home up to health, safety and code standards — foundation, roof, plumbing, electrical and heating — and a smaller repair program that targets one or two systems (roof, furnace, electrical upgrade or plumbing). He said the repair program typically funds smaller, system-level work and may include elective upgrades in the $1,500–$4,000 range to stay within program limits; rehab jobs have ranged from roughly $25,000 up to nearly $100,000 in prior projects and include lead-based-paint assessment and clearance when required.

On lead hazards and relocation, Purrier said the program hires third-party lead-risk assessors to find hazards and to perform post-work clearance testing; when lead abatement is required, the program will relocate residents temporarily and use contracted hotels in Boardman. Contractors selected to perform work must be trained in lead-safe practices; Purrier said most are certified or have EPA renovation, repair and paint training.

Purrier explained the lien policy for rehab projects under HUD rules: the loan forgiven schedule has changed to 20% forgiven per year over five years so that, after five years of owner occupancy, the lien is fully forgiven. He said if a homeowner leaves in year two they would still owe 60% of the loan back to the City of Struthers, which the program treats as program income that can be reused in future grants.

Intake and selection: Purrier said staff will time-stamp applications and call the first roughly 15 applicants returned for in-person inspections; applicants will be visited as a group so staff can assess comparable needs. He advised applicants to bring deeds (obtainable from the Mahoning County Recorder's Office at 120 Boardman), employer and third-party income verification, social security statements, tax returns for self-employed applicants, bank statements, and other documents the package lists. Fatima Burrows and Cynthia (intake staff) were cited by Purrier as the program's initial points of contact for application intake and eligibility screening.

Purrier said the program coordinates with Mahoning-Youngstown Community Action Partnership (MYCAP) during inspections and with Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation for overflow cases. He also described efforts to combine funding streams — citing past partnerships with USDA and other local nonprofit programs — when projects require more resources than CHIP alone can provide.

A city staff member at the meeting said the city recently obtained $2,750,000 to buy eight newly built homes and intends to use any proceeds from those sales to add funds back into home-repair programs. Purrier noted that even if an application is approved, work might not begin immediately; some approved projects start in the fall or the following spring depending on scheduling and contractor availability.

Purrier and staff encouraged applicants to provide complete documentation and said missing documents will not automatically disqualify an application but may delay processing. He said the program aims to spread funds to serve as many households as possible and that staff reserve the right to decline a project that exceeds feasible program limits.