Resources for Homeowners During the Pandemic

Many nonprofit agencies are offering help for critical housing repairs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy of Revitalize Milwaukee.

As COVID-19 keeps folks confined to their households, homeowners may be staring some much-needed repairs right in the face.

To help, many nonprofit agencies and city programs continue to offer services for critical housing repair. Here is a list of resources.

Revitalize Milwaukee

Revitalize Milwaukee provides free emergency home repairs in Milwaukee, and it is still open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Services offered include restoring hot water, plumbing repairs, installing safety precautions such as handrails, secure storm doors and more.

For more information on emergency repairs, see here.

Homeowners can apply here. For more information, call (414) 312-7531.

The City of Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Project   

The Neighborhood Improvement Project assists eligible owner-occupants in repairing their homes. Repairs are based upon health and safety concerns and municipal building code violations.

To comply with social distancing regulations, inspectors are currently not going into the home unless it is an emergency situation. However, homeowners can still begin the application process by checking the website to see if they are eligible for this grant program.

Repairs include general maintenance of windows and gutters, painting the exterior of the home, masonry and checks for lead paint hazards. No interior work will be done unless it is an emergency situation.

Call (414) 286-2163 for more information or to be referred to an agency in your area.

Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation

Affiliated with the City of Milwaukee’s Department of City Development, the corporation works with community-based agencies, local foundations and residents to improve neighborhoods.

The Targeted Investment Neighborhood initiative focuses on six to 12 blocks of specific areas of the city for three years. See which neighborhoods have been mapped as Target Investment Neighborhoods here.

Homeowners living in those mapped neighborhoods may qualify for home rehabilitation from the TIN Loan Program, which gives partially forgivable loans for home improvements. Homeowners can apply here.

If you own a home in the Silver City, Burnham Park or Layton Park neighborhoods, you may qualify for the Great Midwest Bank Home Improvement Loan. This program provides loans for interior and exterior home improvements.

For more information contact Cinthia Hernandez, the Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Housing Outreach Manager, at cinthia@lbwn.org.

Compliance Loan Program

The Compliance Loan Program assists homeowners in fixing code violations on their property by providing 0% interest, deferred payment loans.

Call (414) 286-2567 or check the website for more information.

Lead Paint Hazard Reduction Program

The Lead Paint Hazard Reduction Program is run through the Home Environmental Health Division of the City of Milwaukee Health Department as one of four programs aiming to keep households safe for families. To learn more about the program, call (414) 286-3521.

Bonus: Milwaukee County Energy Assistance Program

The Milwaukee County Energy Assistance Program continues to help connect people with energy assistance benefits over the phone. This one-time annual payment helps qualified residents make heating and electric bills more affordable.

The Milwaukee County Energy Assistance Program’s May 15 season end date has been extended to September 30.

In response to COVID-19, new income guidelines for Energy Assistance benefits have been approved, which ask for only one month of income rather than the three months of income that was previously required. The one month of income counted for eligibility does not count unemployment compensation or stimulus payments as income.

Call (414) 270-4653 or go to KeepWarmMKE.org for more information.

This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee.