Group-home project gets boost from HUD
Times of Trenton article .pdf – Friday, July 16, 2010 – Lisa Coryell
Group-home project gets boost from HUD
HOPEWELL BOROUGH — A housing project to help adults with disabilities live independently in the borough is among seven projects statewide to share a $28 million federal grant aimed at providing housing for senior citizens and people with disabilities on very low incomes.
Hopewell Borough’s project, being developed by the Princeton-based, nonprofit group Community Options Inc., will receive $662,100 of the federal Housing and Urban Development funding. The four-resident group home, to be constructed in the borough, will be a one-story design and will provide supportive services to assist the residents in living independently.
The grant includes $599,400 in capital funding to build the facility. Repayment is not required as long as the housing remains available for occupancy for very low income people with disabilities for at least 40 years. The rest of the grant — $62,700 — will cover the difference between the residents’ contribution and the HUD-approved cost of operating the project.
Nationwide, grants totaling more than $550 million were awarded to fund 169 projects in 46 states.
“The Obama administration is committed to making sure our senior citizens and persons with disabilities have opportunities to live in decent, affordable homes,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.
“Neither of these groups should ever have to worry about being able to find a safe place to live.”
Other New Jersey projects are located in Delaware Township, Plainfield, Lafayette, Basking Ridge, Rahway and Teaneck.
To be classified as “very low income,” a household cannot have an income that exceeds 50 percent of the area media income.
Most very low income households that receive Section 811 assistance have an income less than 30 percent of the area median. Generally, this means that a one-person household will have an annual income of about $13,450.