Local Communities Receive OCRA Grants

Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Grants and Planning Grants through the Community Development Block Grant program. 

Shutterstock photo.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Office of Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs today announced five Indiana communities will receive $1,015,000 in Owner Occupied Rehabilitation Grants and Planning Grants through the Community Development Block Grant program. 

Locally, the City of Madison, Town of Osgood, and Franklin County received funding. 

The City of Madison was awarded a $350,000 Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Grant. 

Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation grants are used to empower communities to directly fund homeowners of low-to-moderate income to make needed repairs on their homes. While communities awarded Planning Grants will use the funding to develop plans for long-term planning efforts.

"Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation and Planning Grants give communities the tools to shape their own future,” Lieutenant Governor Beckwith said. “Strengthening neighborhoods today through essential home repairs, while also building long-term strategies that guide sustainable growth, protect critical infrastructure and enhance quality of life for residents."

Communities awarded an Owner-Occupied Rehabilitation Grant will establish a program to help fund low- and moderate-income homeowners make repairs on their homes. Eligible repairs include roof repair or replacement, ADA accessibility, heating and cooling replacement, lighting and electrical upgrades, and water heater replacement.

The Town of Osgood received a $50,000 Comprehensive Planning Grant. 

The Planning Grant program encourages communities to plan for sustainable community development with the aid of subject matter experts and community input. The applications being funded this quarter address comprehensive planning and utility study planning efforts.

Comprehensive Planning Grants are designed to aid communities in evaluating assets and identifying opportunities to address current needs in the following areas: land use, government capacity, public services, placemaking, economic development, housing, transportation, agriculture, natural resources and historic preservation. 

Franklin County was awarded a $60,000 Utility Study Planning Grant to provide a summary of potential issues and opportunities across drinking, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. By completing this planning, communities will be able to make decisions regarding their most urgent water needs, while understanding how each system works in context with other utility systems

Funding for OCRA’s CDBG programs originates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program and is administered for the State of Indiana by OCRA.

For more information, visit in.gov/ocra/cdbg/.