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Town reports Home Safety and Repair program activities; staff warn program needs more funding
Summary
Sharonica Gavin reported that the town's Home Safety and Repair program pays up to $15,000 per household; since the July 2024 relaunch staff conducted about 65 site visits and currently have 36 projects under contract. Gavin said 147 applications have been received since 2022 and the program faces funding shortfalls.
Sharonica Gavin, principal planner for historic neighborhoods, gave the Housing Action Committee an update Dec. 9 on the town’s Home Safety and Repair program and warned that the program needs additional funding to keep serving residents.
Gavin said the program will pay up to $15,000 in eligible repairs per household — for work such as roofs, windows, doors, demolition of unsafe structures and tree removal — and that internal changes made at a July 2024 relaunch have increased throughput. "Since the relaunch... we have conducted roughly 65 site visits," Gavin said. She reported 23 projects completed and 36 currently under contract just since July 2024.
On the program's full history, Gavin said the town has received 147 applications since 2022; about 113 of those applications are completed, 65 projects have been completed, 36 are under contract and roughly eight are awaiting contractor bids. Gavin told the committee the largest current challenge is identifying additional funding to avoid a long queue of households waiting for repairs.
When asked for numbers, Gavin said the program was allocated about $1.5 million and that with current spending the remaining budget would cover roughly two additional projects at current per-project cost. She estimated immediate additional need in the application queue at about $250,000–$300,000 but said that amount would not achieve long-term program sustainability.
Committee members asked how to help identify funding; Gavin and Quincy said staff and the grants administrator are actively pursuing grant opportunities and community partners. Gavin said a dashboard of housing metrics is planned for next year so residents can track program progress.
The committee did not make a formal funding commitment at the meeting; members encouraged staff to pursue grant and philanthropic support and to report back with budget-ready proposals.
