VALDOSTA – On June 21, the City of Valdosta helped homeowner Andrecus Rountree cut the ribbon on his new home at 607 E. Brookwood Drive, which was built utilizing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding.

Rountree’s reconstructed home is a CDBG/Valdosta-Lowndes County Land Bank Authority joint project that took two months to complete. Rountree was living on First Avenue on a parcel which was too small (460 square feet) to reconstruct his new home, so the Land Bank Authority approved a property exchange in order for this new home (1113 square feet) to be built.

Rountree’s new home is one of seven CDBG homes that the city has reconstructed in the past year to eliminate substandard housing and to seek ways that provide decent, safe and affordable housing for Valdosta citizens.

The Neighborhood Development Division, which oversees the CDBG entitlement funds, is responsible for directing, coordinating and managing all Valdosta programs receiving local, state or federal funding for neighborhood and community development, which also includes the First Time Homebuyer Education, the Single Unit Housing Rehabilitation Program and the Southern Hospitality Group Workcamp.

To be eligible for the reconstruction home program, a homeowner must meet income eligibility, must reside in the home, and the home must be deemed unsafe for occupancy.

For more information, call the Neighborhood Development Division at 229-671-3617 or visit www.valdostacity.com/neighborhood-development.

IN PHOTO:
Neighborhood Development Intern Christopher Brandon, City Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody, Contractor Duane Lantis, Shay Golden and Homeowner Andrecus Rountree, Rehab Construction Coordinator Richard Joyner, City Councilwoman Sandra Tooley, Mayor John Gayle, Neighborhood Development Admin Technician Sarah Lowe, Land Bank Authority Vice-Chair Burke Sherwood, Lowndes County Commissioner Joyce Evans, Neighborhood Development Director Vanassa Flucas and Land Bank Authority Attorney Billy Steinberg.