By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Peabody homeowners, tenants, and landlords might qualify for as much as $25,000 for home rehabilitation under a community development block grant.

A target area will be selected and qualifying homeowners will be encouraged to apply for grants, Peabody Community Foundation director Becky Nickel said.

The foundation’s Sustainable Development Goals Team is working with South Central Kansas Economic Development District to develop the program.

Peabody team member Brian Simmonds said team members and SCKEDD officials had taken a look at the town to get SCKEDD’s opinion on the first target area for grant funding.

The target area will be selected before the first round of grants. The program will continue year after year with new target areas.

Income limits for grant applicants will be $41,800 for a household of one, $47,800 for two, $53,750 for three, and $59,700 for four, Nickel said.

A home inspection is needed before a grant can be approved.

“It’s to see all the things that need to be done in the home to bring it up to a good living situation,” Nickel said.

Work can be done on roofs, plumbing, wiring, windows, siding, and other housing needs.

If a house needs more than $25,000 worth of repair, the owner will be responsible for the remaining cost.

“Once we work on a few houses in a certain area, hopefully there will be funding for bulldozing,” Nickel said.

Simmonds said Peabody had a lot of advantages that many small towns don’t have, including a food store and other services.

“We can’t lose that,” he said. “We need to help our residents to thrive.”

More information is available from Simmonds at (316) 215-2068 or Nickel at (620) 951-4022.

Peabody also was recently chosen for a $1.5 million grant to improve its downtown business district over two years.