More funding means more fixed up homes
After receiving a significant state funding increase for 2020, a Butler County housing program thinks it can double its number of rehabilitated homes.
The Butler County Acquisition Rehab (BAR) program is run by the Redevelopment Authority of Butler County and is used to acquire and rehabilitate vacant or blighted homes, and then rent them to hard-to-house people.
“Nothing good happens in vacant properties,” said Redevelopment Authority CEO Edward Mauk.
“Even if nothing bad happens, time erodes the property,” he said.
Being hard-to-house does not necessarily mean someone is homeless. Rather, it means it is simply hard for them to find suitable housing because, for example, they have a large family.
The hard-to-house population usually falls between other housing programs such as Section 8 or programs geared toward homelessness.The Redevelopment Authority receives funding for the program through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) fund.Mauk said the authority always puts in a request for funding, but never knows exactly how much it will receive.After receiving $144,000 in 2019, it was announced the program will get $450,000 in 2020.Thus far, the BAR program has rehabilitated four houses that are now being rented out, three in Butler and one in Slippery Rock.Mauk said it is difficult to estimate how much it will cost to rehabilitate a home, but he thinks the program could rehabilitate as many as four or five houses with the additional funding the authority received this year.Mauk said the BAR program addresses two issues: decreasing the number of blighted houses and filling a gap created by the other housing programs.“It's a successful program because it provides housing for people who need it. It's a successful program because it keeps the neighborhood from deteriorating,” Mauk said.“We're marrying the two in a way that enhances the community,” he said.
