Funds OKd to Help Poor With Repairs

Poor and elderly people who lack the finances needed to repair minor earthquake damage to their homes will get help soon, thanks to a Los Angeles City Council vote Tuesday.

The council approved $858,000 worth of contracts to three community-based organizations to do small repair jobs on the homes of qualified quake victims. Of that amount, about $396,000 is earmarked to be spent in the San Fernando Valley.

The program is designed to help low-income homeowners and senior citizens for whom aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration has been inadequate. Under the Valley project, the Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE) will send work crews to the homes of selected applicants to do painting, window and door repair, and other improvements.

Romerol Malveaux, director of program management for the city Housing Department, predicted that the project will be in operation within three weeks.

Of the $396,000 earmarked for the Valley, $356,000 will be spent to repair at least 102 homes belonging to poor families and $40,000 will go toward rehabilitating at least 16 homes belonging to senior citizens.

To be considered low-income, an applicant’s earnings must be at or below 80% of the median income for the Los Angeles area.

For example, a family of four must make less than $39,900 a year to qualify.

Applicants must have home damage worth less than $3,000 and have received funding insufficient to complete necessary repairs after applying to FEMA and the SBA.

For more information, call PACE at (213) 389-2373.

The Wilkinson Multipurpose Senior Center in Northridge will refer senior citizens to the program. James Hildebrandt, a senior management analyst in the Housing Department, said that PACE will open a Valley office soon.

The city is paying for the program with Community Development Block Grant fund, which come from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.