The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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November 20, 2008

CDSA receives grants to continue long-standing Garfield County housing assistance programs

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer

Community Development Sup-port Association received two grants recently that will allow it to continue two long-standing housing programs in Garfield County.

The housing assistance program offered by CDSA was funded $99,900 by Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency. Cheri Ezzell, CDSA executive director, said CDSA sponsors a homebuyers’ assistance program, which helped about 30 people purchase their first homes last year. This year, she anticipates an additional 20 people will be helped.

“We generally do about 20 a year, and we’ve been doing it now for about five years,” she said.

The program is aimed at people who make less than 80 percent of the median income in Garfield County. They are required to attend a homebuyer workshop, an eight-hour class, then if they are eligible, they may be assisted up to $5,000 for down payments and closing costs.

Ezzell said funding is competitive, and CDSA must apply for it each year showing a need in the community.

The other program is a housing purchase and rehabilitation program aimed at the same group of people. In that program, CDSA purchases a home in disrepair and rehabilitates it, bringing it to the latest code requirements. CDSA then sells the home to first-time homebuyers.

Funding for the program also is competitive and CDSA must apply every year. This year, CDSA received $159,000 from Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency.

“We are improving the community because we are renovating houses and bringing them into service and also helping low- to moderate-income people buy a house that is fully repaired,” she said.

The people who purchase the homes know they will not have any roof projects or expensive heating repairs to make the first year they are in the house, which gives them time to set aside money to make those kinds of repairs when they occur, she said.

CDSA does not always make a profit and sometimes loses money on houses. Ezzell said CDSA is not concerned with profit but with bringing houses into service and finding people to buy them.

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