On Monday, Elyria announced its new "Spruce Up Elyria" program; spurred by resident feedback, the grants would help incentivize Elyria residents to spruce up their homes, Mayor Frank Whitfield said.
"We are prioritizing the beautification and revitalization of our city through smart investments in our neighborhoods. We hope this program will inspire our residents to continue to rebuild our city,” Whitfield said.
The program will offer residents grants of up to $5,000 for exterior home renovations.
Elyria currently has programs in place for small businesses to improve their facades and storefronts.
"This is why it’s so exciting, because we’re actually providing similar programming for residents and homeowners finally," Whitfield said.
For the first phase of the program, Elyria has decided to focus on giving these opportunities for home improvements to low-income families who need it first.
“We heard loud and clearly our residents said they wanted to see more investments helping homeowners and people, even people who are renting, to spruce up their homes to get their sidewalks redone, get their homes painted, to get landscaping, to just really invest in the upkeep of the city of Elyria,” Whitfield said.
Citywide expansion of the plan will be implemented once more development is made, but the city hopes to create a matching program for residents who are not yet eligible for funding now.
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