CHENANGO COUNTY – Mobile home owners in Chenango County may be eligible for help making home improvements thanks to a grant recently awarded to the county's department of planning and development.

Chenango County, on behalf of Opportunities for Chenango, recently accepted an award earmarked for county residents living in mobile homes who need to make home repairs but can't due to financial hardships. The $400,000 grant is welcome news as nearly 25 percent of Chenango County residents live in mobile homes, according to 2012 data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Chenango County has the second highest population of residents living in mobile homes or manufactured housing of any other county in New York State,” explained Donna Jones, Director of the Chenango County Planning Department. “This is a very much needed grant for our area that will help rehabilitate manufactured homes across the county and help a lot of people.”

These grant funds come by way of the Office of Housing and Community Renewal, a state-run agency that oversees development programs in the areas of housing restoration and preservation. Although funding is awarded to the Chenango County Planning Department, county officials will disburse it to the nonprofit organization Opportunities for Chenango (OFC) which will then offer it to residents via Quaranta Housing Services, a subsidiary agency of OFC.

According to OFC Executive Director Wayne Viera, the newly awarded grant will provide critical help to residents who are living in substandard housing.