SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Almost $3 million in grants for affordable housing projects in the state will fund 15 projects and help more than 300 families, state officials said this week.
The South Dakota Housing Development Authority recently announced the $2.7 million grant funding that come from the state’s Housing Opportunity Fund, which was created in 2013 by the state Legislature, the Argus Leader reported (https://argusne.ws/1FGyPQC ).
“We just hear a lot more, especially from rural (areas), that they need housing,” said Mark Lauseng, the executive director of the housing development authority.
The grant funding will go to various programs and projects throughout the state, like GROW South Dakota, a nonprofit that helps people fund down payments on homes and provides a cost assistance program to help people trying to close on a home.
GROW South Dakota CEO Marcia Erickson said its $275,000 grant will help 25 homebuyers in Rapid City and Sioux Falls. She said the grant helps people whose incomes don’t exceed 80 percent of the average area income.
In the program, families or individuals can receive a zero-percent interest, deferred loan, of up to a $10,000 that they have to pay back after the house is sold or the owner can afford it. Participants are required to take a homebuyer’s education course.
“Homebuyer education is really a key piece so that they can go into the home closing with the tools that they need,” Erickson said.
Other projects in the Sioux Falls area funded by the grant include seven single-family Habitat for Humanity homes, a homelessness prevention program and the construction of an eight-unit townhome complex for rent.
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Information from: Argus Leader, https://www.argusleader.com
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