Muskingum County Commissioners Discuss Community Development Grants

DOWNTOWN ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Today the director of Community Development met with County Commissioners to update them on the status of various grants and support programs being offered to the community.

One of the grants being discussed will help pay for repairs and renovations for people’s homes to be more habitable. 

“We have our community housing impact preservation program. And it’s been slow moving due to COVID -lack of contractors and so forth- and we’re now starting to ramp that program back up, so we’re getting some homeowners, some of their home repairs are being addressed now,” Sheila Samson, Director of Muskingum County Community Development stated.

This program is for folks who live in a house or building with health and safety concerns that need address. Within the next two years, this grant is expected to improve the quality and safety of 40 homes across Muskingum County. Another grant discussed at the commissioners meeting was a program to assist renters and landlords called the Fair Housing Program.

“We share information with tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities. You know, if they’re having issues with their landlord and repairs, or a landlord has an issue with a tenant not paying their rent, so we can kind of give them some guidance on that,” Samson said.

The program will also be able to assist individuals who feel they are being discriminated against or are who are being treated unfairly. You can find out more about the community development grants on Muskingum County’s website.