Lower-income Muskegon County homeowners have opportunity to make their homes healthier

July 12, 2022

July 12, 2022

MUSKEGON, MI – Muskegon County lower-income homeowners are now able to apply for assistance to make their homes safer and healthier.

Applications for assistance for up to $10,000 to address housing hazards are available through the City of Muskegon’s Community and Neighborhood Services Department, which is administering a $1.5 million grant targeting homeowners across Muskegon County.

The Healthy Homes Program is designed to find and fix health hazards in Muskegon County homes. The home improvements will upgrade the health and safety of the home environments, reduce the need for medical care associated with home environmental hazards and promote healthier behaviors.
Assistance will cover the full cost of assessment, testing, labor and materials up to $10,000.

Some common issues the Health Homes Program can address include lead-based paint, indoor air quality, mold and moisture, pests and carbon monoxide among other home-based health and safety hazards. The program’s home-rating system outlines 29 specific hazards which are listed here: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HHRSCHART.PDF

To receive assistance, applicants must be Muskegon County residents occupying their own single-family home, be at 80 percent or below county’s household median income and be current on the home’s property taxes. Priority will be given to eligible applicants with children in the home younger than 6 years old, adults older than 62 or those with disabilities.

Muskegon County residents can obtain an application online at https://muskegon-mi.gov/cresources/462.pdf . Applications are also available in the lobby of Muskegon City Hall, or can be requested by email at [email protected], telephone at (231) 724-6717 or postal mail at Muskegon City Hall, CNS, 933 Terrace, Muskegon, MI 49440. Applications can be returned by mail, email, fax (231-726-2501) or in person at City Hall.

An estimated 150 eligible home owners will be able to receive assistance during the next three years but the program will end when all funds have been granted.

The City of Muskegon – providing the program across Muskegon County — is one of three governments and agencies in Michigan and among 60 nationwide in 29 states to receive a share of the $104.7 million in Healthy Homes Grant Program funds from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The city has a long history of successful use of HUD funds to support low- and moderate-income families. In the past year alone, 25 housing units had lead abated, 21 energy efficiency repairs, six with vinyl siding, and 38 priority home repairs.

“These grants will allow us to improve the lives of even more citizens in the greater Muskegon community by providing homeowners the resources needed to address household hazards that negatively impact health,” said Stevie Parcell, Muskegon’s CNS Grants Program Coordinator. “We’re eager to help create a healthier Muskegon County through this program. Our impact will only become greater in the coming years through these federal dollars.”

For more information, contact:
Stevie Parcell
Grants Program Coordinator
City of Muskegon Community and Neighborhood Services
231-724-6775
[email protected]
(City photo is of a house being rehabilitated by CNS for resale as an affordable two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath single-family home in the city’s Angell Neighborhood. Permission to use.)