Bobby Goode, TN Director of USDA Rural Development, and Arlisa Armstrong of Rural Development at the home of Dorothy Cordle in Brighton
The Memphis Area Association of Governments (MAAG) is working to help the elderly maintain their homes in rural areas outside of Memphis. The agency recently received a housing preservation grant for $45,000 from the USDA Rural Development office in Nashville.
“That money, along with funds we received from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA), will be used to repair homes of older adults who live in Tipton, Lauderdale and Fayette counties,” said Paul Morris, MAAG Housing Coordinator. “Generally, the recipients are more than 60 years old, and they need significant home repairs such as new roofs, weatherization, and repairs to major housing systems like plumbing, heating and air conditioning.”
MAAG works with the rural development office in Jackson, Tenn., as well as the Delta Human Resource Agency in Covington. Applicants for assistance must own their home and earn or receive less than $25,000 per year.
A ceremony was held last month at the home of Dorothy Cordle, in Brighton, Tenn., where USDA Rural Development presented MAAG with the grant. Construction work to renovate Cordle’s home is nearing completion.
“That was one of the first houses we began working on, and they’ve done roof repairs and weatherization,” said Morris.
Within Shelby County, the Shelby County Housing Department receives funds from HUD to help people with housing repairs, and groups like Habitat for Humanity and United Housing offer low-interest loans for housing repairs.
“Right now, I think the city of Memphis is also in the process of trying to develop a program to help older adults,” said Morris.
MAAG was created in 1968 through state and federal legislation, and today is one of nine Development Districts in Tennessee. The agency serves as a regional clearinghouse for federal programs in support of economic, housing and community development initiatives to county governments in Fayette, Lauderdale, Shelby and Tipton; DeSoto in Mississippi; and Crittenden in Arkansas.
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Michael Waddell is a native Memphian who returned to Memphis several years ago after working for nearly a decade in San Diego and St. Petersburg, Fla., as a writer, editor and graphic designer. His work over the past few years has been featured in
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