CENTRAL NEBRASKA - Hundreds of home and business owners were affected in some capacity by historic flooding in Grand Island back in June with seven inches of rain causing property damage of all kinds.

But now, a Central Nebraska non-profit is launching a new program to assist certain homeowners with damaged properties that not only dealt with flooding in the Grand Island area, but for any natural disaster events that may happen in the future.

The Housing Development Corporation is now offering financial assistance to low-income homeowners in Hall, Adams, Clay, Webster, and Nuckolls counties that suffer property damage due to documented natural disasters.

While the initial focus is on flood recovery, the program is designed to remain flexible and responsive to future disasters across HDC’s five-county service area.

"Under our Owner-Occupied Repair program, we're able to offer affordable grants to individuals who are low-income and own their homes." said HDC Executive Director Alyssa Heagy.

The HDC’s Owner Occupied Repair program has been around for 25 years, but Heagy recently helped create the Disaster Recovery subdivision program after the Grand Island floods caused extensive damage in the non-profit's coverage area.

The OOR-DR program aims to provide faster assistance for homeowners as the HDC’s existing Owner-Occupied Repair program currently has a 12-month wait list for other housing requests not related to natural disasters.

"We had a conversation with the Board of Directors and I pitched the idea that we've got the Owner-Occupied Repair program, what if we did this disaster recovery subset?" said Heagy. "It's a sub-program of something we're already doing, but we can have kind of that fast response time."

The HDC is offering a total of $100,000 to qualified low-income homeowners, with each home eligible to receive up to $20,000.

The criteria to be eligible for funding is: 

· Ownership and occupancy of the home

· Location within one of the five eligible counties

· Household income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI)

· Proof of insurance and documentation of disaster-related damage

Heagy says the money is designated for damage to the structure or foundation of homes, and won’t go towards home insurance deductibles or personal property damage.

"Not all homes will get up to that $20,000 mark, they may only need $5,000 worth so we can stretch those dollars," said Heagy. "But what we're really looking for is community partners to help step up and potentially sponsor some of the homes, making donations, so that we can see this program continue to serve even more."

The Housing Development Corporation is offering the funding as a 0%, no monthly payment loan, with 50% of the loan forgiven if the homeowner remains in the home for 10 years, and 50% of the loan needs to be repaid at the time of transfer. 

Funds will re-generate as granted loans are paid back. 

Applications for people affected by the Grand Island flood are now open on a first-complete, first-served basis, and would take as little as five business days for potential approval. 

Interested homeowners can request more information or begin the application process by contacting HDC at 402-461-8407 or info@hdcne.org.

Community members can support this effort by donating to HDC. Contributions help extend the program’s impact to more families in need. Donations can be made securely at hdcne.org/donate.