Rockdale County received $300,000 more federal funds from the Community Home Investment Grant to rehabilitate homes, including many in the Milstead area, and help first-time homebuyers with down payments.
The county also was granted $690,000 in various funds for Court system and Sheriff’s Office.
The Homeowner Rehabilitation Project (HOME) funds will be allocated as follows:
- Milstead Village, a former mill community established in 1902, will receive 60 percent of the HOME project funds.
- Housing repairs to income eligible homeowners in Rockdale County, in an amount not to exceed $22,900 per home, for a total of 11 homes, (seven in the Milstead Village area and four homes county-wide). The funds can be used to address emergency repairs, or to replace/repair one or two major systems such as a roof, furnace, plumbing and/or electrical upgrades, and septic systems.
- Down payment assistance to nine income eligible first-time home buyers wishing to purchase a home in Rockdale County. The Down Payment Assistance project will provide a single amount of $6,200 to purchase a home in Rockdale, six in the Milstead Village and three homes county-wide.
Court and Sheriff funds are allocated to the following:
- Emergency Management Performance Grant, $21,033 (in-kind match), designed to enhance the mobile data network with wireless access capability and digital media storage capacity.
- United States Department of Justice/Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) $38,490 to enhance traffic enforcement capabilities.
- Rockdale Gang Intervention Project formation, $250,000
- Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program, $199,418 (in-kind match), to improve the quality and intensity of services provided to clients of the Rockdale County DUI Court Supervised Treatment Program.
- COPS Community Oriented Policing/Technology Program and Methamphetamine Initiative funding of $150,000 to improve mobile data network capability through additional computers or cameras, increased digital media storage capacity and upgrades to wireless access capability.
- Rockdale County DUI Court Supervised Treatment Program, $165,732 to improve the quality and intensity of services to clients of the Rockdale County DUI Court Supervised Treatment Program to ensure and sustain long term recovery from alcohol and drugs.
“We continue to aggressively pursue alternative funding sources, especially during these tight economic times, and the hard work by our Grants team to meet the goal is certainly paying off,” said Rockdale County Commission Chairman and CEO Richard Oden.
“The grants preparation and submission process tends to be long and arduous,” said Grants Administrator Alice Cintron. “However, giving up is not an option, knowing that the need is still there. The lack of an award makes your program no less valuable and the need no less urgent. So you try again, as many times as it takes.”
