RALEIGH, N.C. – The Gaston County Housing Rehabilitation program was awarded this week by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency at the organization’s NC Affordable Housing Awards in Raleigh. Gaston County’s program was the first county or city entity in the 34-year history of the program to win such an award.
The county’s housing rehabilitation program has completed work on more than 100 homes in Gaston County since its inception, utilizing $2.1 million in grant funding to improve the lives of low-income residents. State and federal studies show that for every dollar spent in housing rehabilitation, it saves $19 for taxpayers.
Most work in this space is done by nonprofits, but Planned Growth and Development Director Brian Sciba said the work done by Gaston County’s team has maximized the resources available to residents.
“Marc Bolick and his group have built a program for Gaston County from the ground up,” Sciba said. “They have continued to perform at a very high level and really produce a lot of really good work for Gaston County.”
Working with Gaston County Grants Manager Pat Laws to bring in funding for the program, the Housing Rehabilitation team of Marc Bolick, Lauren Lewis, Mike Norman and James Hageman sorts through applications from the community each year to find projects that match the greatest need and way to make the grant dollars go the furthest. More information about the various housing rehab projects, including applications for projects can be found online.
Laws and Bolick sat down with the County’s Savvy Citizen team earlier this year to discuss more of the work they do. The episode is online at Savvy Citizen on Podcast, or can be streamed wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Photo, from left: From left to right: Gaston County employees Lauren Lewis, James Hageman, Pat Laws, Mike Norman, Marc Bolick and Brian Sciba; Rep. Donnie Loftis and Michael Handley (NCHFA Manager of Home Ownership Rehabilitation & Compliance)