Steve Gravelle covers government, general-assignment, and some breaking news stories. He worked at newspapers in Minnesota before coming to The [...]
Updated: 3 October 2012 | 11:10 am in Linn County Area

Linn supervisors approve $5,000 for housing rehab

Group uses volunteer labor and contractors, then uses proceeds to help fund next project


thegazette.com Copyright 2011 SourceMedia Group. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jerry McGrane in what will be the dining room of a house being renovated by Neighborhood Revitalization Service. (Steve Gravelle/The Gazette)

Linn County will continue to help fund the Neighborhood Revitalization Service’s efforts to rehabilitate Cedar Rapids housing.

County supervisors voted Wednesday morning to allocate $5,000 to NRS from the county’s economic development fund. The non-profit received $10,000 from the county in April; Wednesday’s grant comes from the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

NRS is finishing work on its second rehab project, at 1548 Sixth Ave. SE. The group uses volunteer labor and contractors for the work, then plans to use the proceeds from the home’s sale to at least partially fund the purchase of its next project, said Jerry McGrane, NRS founder and a former Cedar Rapids City Council member.

“We’re looking for the third, but the prices went up after Affordable Housing bought all those houses,” said McGrane. He referred to the Affordable Housing Network’s purchase of more than two dozen homes under its Total-Child Wellington Heights Initiative.



Featured Jobs from corridorcareers.com