FULTON, NY – The City of Fulton and Fulton Community Development Agency (FCDA) have been selected to receive a 2024 NYS HOME Award in the amount of $695,000 for Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA), it was announced by Jessica Mills, FCDA executive director.
“Thanks to this award, we’ll be able to provide TBRA to approximately 35 individual households throughout the City of Fulton,” Mills said. “Assistance will be used for rent payments, utility costs, and security deposits for families at or below 60 percent of the area’s median income. The program will also include rental assistance counseling for each applicant.
“Our HUD Certified Housing Counselors will work with applicants to develop household budgets, determine what they can afford to pay for rent, establish eligibility assistance, apply for rental assistance, and identify an appropriate unit while educating applicants on good rental practices and maintaining a healthy home. The FCDA plans for the TBRA program to act as temporary assistance for those individuals on the waiting list for the City’s HUD Section 8 Rental Assistance program.”
“This award fills a critical need to support families in our city who are struggling to cover their costs related to rental housing,” said Fulton Mayor James Rice. “This should help improve the quality of life for both the applicants and their surrounding neighbors, thus continuing our initiative to build healthy neighborhoods.”
Currently, the FCDA provides rental assistance in the form of HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program to low income families throughout the City, Mills said. The program serves approximately 480 families with over 700 applicants on the waiting list.
“Rent prices across the nation are at an all-time high, especially in New York State,” Mills said. “Inflation and the recent skyrocketing cost of housing has left many citizens unable to afford the inflated prices. Fulton’s waiting list for rental assistance is at a record high, and HUD Section 8 HCV funds are not adequate to meet the increasing needs for rental assistance. We anticipate this need to grow as new renters come to Fulton in response to the anticipated Miron Technology chip fabrication campus scheduled to be built in Clay, just 15 minutes from Fulton. The TBRA program will provide significant economic relief to help low-income households find affordable apartments, while ultimately spending no more than 30 percent of their income on rent.
“We are extremely excited to introduce this program, and our staff at the FCDA is committed to helping our community combat housing instability. This program adds to the reliable resources we already have here to help our community maintain their homes and manage their living expenses.”
For further information, call 315-593-7166 or contact [email protected].
Discover more from Oswego County Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
