A community development grant obtained by Wrangell Cooperative Association last fall will be putting $600,000 back into local homes.
The funds come from Housing and Urban Development, through its Community Development Block Grant program. The federal program provides resources to communities for addressing a wide range of unique development needs. The goal of the Wrangell project will be to increase energy efficiency for around 20 residences, specifically for Native homeowners.
“The Tribe was very excited to receive this grant,” WCA administrator Esther Ashton explained. The application process began under previous administrator Aaron Angerman, she said, to address issues highlighted by a housing needs assessment WCA conducted in 2016.
Implementation of the project will be through a partnership between WCA and Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority. THRHA will help with the funds’ administration, as well as take the lead on conducting housing inspections and coordinating work.
THRHA Development & Construction Management manager Lorraine DeAsis came down from Juneau with special projects director Melanie Rodriguez last week for a public presentation outlining the project.
DeAsis explained they will be taking applications from homeowners that meet targeted criteria. Qualified homeowners need to be a Tribal citizen and resident of Wrangell, with priority given to households with elders over the age of 62 or with children under six years old. Inclusion in the program will also be income-based.
“Other things that we consider are condition of the home, and if the condition of the home is leading to any health concerns. We consider those kinds of issues as well,” DeAsis added.
The Wrangell housing program is similar to those THRHA has been undertaking in Angoon, Kake and Yakutat for the past year and a half. Efforts there to rehabilitate homes are just about nearing completion.
“A big focus of this grant is energy savings,” said DeAsis. This can be anything from replacing poor insulation and drafty windows to updating inefficient appliances. The DCM-led project also tries to address electrical and plumbing problems, as well as ventilation and moisture concerns. Cleaning chimneys and updating wood-burning stoves to cleaner models are also part of the program’s repertoire.
Residences selected for rehabilitation would undergo an initial inspection, giving project leads a better idea of what problems will need to be addressed. The inspecting team will work with homeowners to identify issues, going through the house from top to bottom.
“Probably the most important maintenance issue that we’re running into is water leaks. Those lead to probably the most damage in the house,” DeAsis explained. “It could be the water heater, it could be the boiler, and it could be something in the bathroom. It’s almost always one of those things.”
“What we’ve been finding in other communities is a lot of homes have boilers that are really old, and water heaters that are really inefficient and often failing,” she continued. “In a lot of the houses the boiler room and the bathroom go back to back, and that can rot out a whole half of the house.”
Once issues are identified, the full scope and cost of rehabilitating the selected houses are then assessed. Working with WCA and homeowners, DCM would devise a strategy to do as many of the repairs as are possible, as well as how best to go about them.
“Sometimes we hire contractors, and sometimes we do the work ourselves,” said DeAsis.
Projects are taken in stages as resources and labor become available, often concurrently between houses. So when an electrician is available for those selected projects, homes needing electrical work will be worked on in the same sweep. Residents receiving housing aid will be expected to make accommodations during the process, moving furniture out of the way of targeted projects and being available to scheduling work.
“We consider this whole process a partnership between the Tribe, the Housing Authority and the homeowner. We all are working together,” DeAsis said.
Such projects are likely to take up to two years in all, but the improvements will result in healthier homes in the longer term. The program also will work with homeowners on how to use and properly maintain any newly installed items to ensure success.
“Once the work is done, then we do the same as what we had done in the beginning. We come back and do a close-out,” said DeAsis. Before and after pictures of the sites are taken and homeowners spoken with about the work that was done, as well as how DCM might improve the process in the future.
For those interested in learning more about the program and its requirements, residents can stop by the WCA office during weekday hours. Applications should be completed and submitted by February 28.
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