IRA GRIBIN Workforce Housing Grants

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Applicants shall be required to meet all of the follow ing eligibility requ irements in ord er to be awarded a micro-gr ant under this program unless circumstances for special variance occur and are approved by the review committee. Awards shall be reviewed and disbursements shall be made within two weeks of requests submitted to the Traverse Area Association of REALTORS® (TAAR) and approved by committee. If approval is not made by committee a letter from the TAAR shall be sent within this same fourteen day time period. Applicants must:

Be in the public safety realm. This includes occupations such as Local Police, Sheriff, State Police, Campus Security, Firefighters (including Volunteer), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Paramedic, Emergency Services, Probation Officers, Corrections Officers, Federal Agents and any other public safety occupation. In the case of Traverse City, Coast Guard personnel shall also be considered.

As the intent of the program is to help public safety workers find housing, or make improvements to existing house close to their base of operations; the location of the housing must also fall within the jurisdictional boundaries of their job. Example: A Grand Traverse County Sheriff must be purchasing a home in Grand Traverse County or a Blair Township EMS would have to reside in Blair Township.

Micro-grant award amounts may range from fifty dollars ($50) to fifteen hundred dollars ($1500) although other requests may be taken under special consideration.

Micro-Grant funds are intended to be used to offset closing costs or other costs related to the transaction process (example: down payment assistance). These funds may also be used for improvements to new or existing housing that such improvements would lend themselves to energy efficiency, zero-step access, heating systems, improvements in plumbing that aid in water conservation (example: low flow toilets), clean up and/or remediation services, appliances (Energy Star) or other services that will assist the public safety worker in making their home purchase more affordable.

All applications shall be reviewed by the Review Committee process and clarification of the request may be required.

The decision of the committee shall be final and no further review or appeal shall be granted.

The micro-grant recipient shall be required to prove some level of proof that the funds met their intended purpose. This may be in the form of valid receipts for services performed, products purchased or letters from reliable vendors and sources. Failure to provide this information shall result in a repayment of disbursed funds.