Housing program gets $150,000 in state funding

by Sara Blumberg

    The Dundalk Renaissance Corp. has received a state grant of $150,000 to continue revitalization efforts in the Dundalk community, a state official announced last week.
    The award was announced by Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Secretary Raymond A. Skinner, who  said that $3.9 million in funds were being allocated in the Community Legacy Program.
    In total, 35 municipalities received funding.
   

Community Legacy provides flexible funding to local governments and community development organizations for essential revitalization projects in existing communities through activities that expand neighborhood business and job development, according to an DHCD press release.
    The DRC will use the funding to continue its program of renovating and selling homes in the Dundalk community.
    The organization has been doing home renovations for nearly a decade.
    Starting in 2001, members of the Urban Design Assistance Team (UDAT) came to Dundalk to help create a plan to revitalize the aging community.
      One key component to the proposed revitalization process was attracting new home buyers to the area.
       To do this, the UDAT  suggested offering incentive programs including  renovations, interest-free loans and soft-second mortgages.
    While a housing crash in 2007 slowed the housing program, things have slowly picked up for the organization.
    In November, the DRC announced it would begin renovations of two more Historic Dundalk-area homes.
    The DRC is the only community organization in Baltimore County to receive one of the grants. Most of the funding went to projects in Baltimore City and Harford County.