This past December, the Ohio Department of Development granted $21.6 million to benefit housing across Ohio through the Community Housing Impact and Preservation program, which provides home repair and rehabilitation.

Lorain County will receive $1.6 million of the grant, and the CHIP program, in partnership with the Cities of Oberlin, Amherst, North Ridgeville, and Sheffield Lake, will use the funds to continue to provide home repairs and private owner-occupied rehabilitation for income-eligible homeowners who reside in Lorain County, excluding Elyria and Lorain. The money comes federally from the Community Development Block Grant. 

Households must be at or below 80 percent of median income in order to be eligible for CHIP aid. Residents are encouraged to apply directly to their designated county. 

CHIP offers two programs for homeowners: Home Repair and Home Rehabilitation. Home Repair addresses issues such as roofing, electrical, plumbing, heating, air, and other health and safety needs and does not require any payment by the homeowner. Home Rehabilitation offers extensive repairs and upgrades for the home, with assistance in the form of forgivable loans. No monthly payments or interest is charged, and 100 percent of what is borrowed will be forgiven over five years, provided that the homeowner continues to own and occupy the home.

Brandi Cowell, program administrator for Lorain County’s CHIP program, outlined the internal process of providing aid through CHIP. 

“We have inspectors that come out and do an assessment…just to see what’s really going on in the home and what needs to be addressed,” Cowell said. “Basically, all your health and safety issues. And then the inspector will go from there and write up specifications about what we’re going to do at that property.” 

After the initial inspection, CHIP puts out a bid to all the contractors in the community within Lorain County. They determine the lowest and most responsible bidder and draw up an agreement between the homeowner and the contractor.

Lorain County submitted the application for the grant in June 2023, and they were awarded in December 2023. However, money will not be released until an Environmental Review Record is completed, which Cowell predicts won’t be until March or April of this year. The ERR, designed to help people within the community and in Lorain County, includes mapping of flood zones and flood zone management. 

The CHIP program aims to help low-income homeowners. Carrie Porter, the director of planning and development for the City of Oberlin, spoke about the city’s lack of affordable housing.

“It’s tough to find a place to live, whether it’s an apartment, a house, or a condo … our vacancy rate is very low,” she said. “It’s very hard for people to move into Oberlin. And that was in our comprehensive plan that we just finished up for the whole city. Housing is the number one issue.”