CHENANGO COUNTY – Mobile home owners in Chenango County may be eligible for help repairing or even replacing their home, thanks to a round of New York State grant funds being funneled through Opportunities for Chenango.

In May, the Chenango County Department of Planning and Development, on behalf of Opportunities for Chenango (OFC), accepted an award earmarked for low-income residents who need to make critical repairs to their mobile home but can’t due to financial hardships. The $400,000 grant comes by way of the Office of Housing and Community Renewal, a state-run agency that oversees development programs in the area of housing restoration and preservation.

Those funds were recently leveraged by an additional $400,000 awarded to OFC through the NYS Community Development Block Grant program. It’s welcome news considering the high number of residents in Chenango County living in mobile homes, explained Karen Glasbergen, Housing Director for OFC.

“We are currently looking for people who qualify for assistance and could use their mobile home replaced,” Glasbergen said, citing program stipulations that require applicants to own the mobile and the land its on, and be caught up on their taxes. “Funding for the mobile home replacement came to us later than expected, so we’re really pushing this program for the people who could use it.”