Friday, January 1, 2016

2015 Was A Year Of Housing Improvements In Dorchester


Last year was a year in which many Dorchester homeowners worked hard to maintain and improve the appearance of their homes.

The Times staff makes every attempt to travel often throughout eastern and central Nebraska, to see how Dorchester compares to other towns under 1,500.  The keys to a great community are the people who live there and the pride they show in their homes, as well as the relationships they have with their neighbors.

While we would love to see paving on every Dorchester street -- and while we would love to see a coordinated, official plan in place to fill every commercial building -- we know that the first key to our high quality of life is our people and the quality of homes they live in. (For example, note the three homes just north of Barley's Specialties on main street.  The owners of those homes have done a great job in making improvements.)

The pictures accompanying this post is a tribute to just a few of some of the home owners who have done a great job improving their homes.  (We simply don't have space to recognize every nice looking home in town.)  In doing so, they are making life better for all of us in Dorchester.  

There are still more than a handful of properties in town that are in disrepair. The owners of such properties are sometimes stretched to come up with the resources (money and/or physical capacity) to repair their homes. 

For those low-income homeowners, we want to make readers aware of a grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to assist very low income households with home repairs.  For those who own and occupy homes in need of essential repairs and who are wondering how to get financing, USDA Rural Development can help with grants and low-interest loans for homeowners in rural communities. Dorchester is eligible for this program.

Applicants must own and occupy the home and not exceed income guidelines established by county and household size. The family’s income must below 50% of the county median income.  For many counties in Nebraska, the income limit for a one person household is $21,350; two person, $24,400; three person, $27,450; four person, $30,500 and five person, $32,950.  However, some counties may have higher income limits.  

Please contact your USDA Rural Development office for the details in your county, or call (402) 437-5563.

Or visit http://www.rd.usda.gov/ne.  You may also contact Single Family Housing Specialist Krista Mettscher at 402-437-5518, krista.mettscher@ne.usda.gov.

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