Officials urge Benton County residents to apply for new Eastern Iowa Trust Fund home repair program

Speaker 4 briefed the board on a newly launched Eastern Iowa Trust Fund housing repair program that provides grants to lower-income homeowners for home repairs including roofs, furnaces, water heaters, windows and septic or sewer work. "It goes from roofs to furnaces to water heaters...Up to $20,000 per house," the committee member said.

The speaker said the program is being offered across Benton, Iowa, Jones and Washington counties, that the initial lump-sum allocation is $224,000, and that eligibility criteria and application information were included in a pamphlet circulated to staff. Speaker 4 asked staff to distribute pamphlets to city clerks and publish application details so residents can learn how to apply on a first-come, first-served basis.

Board members agreed to help publicize the program through the clerk's office and the county bulletin; speaker 3 encouraged outreach so eligible residents have access to application information.