Today, Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced that Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation will receive a $38,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, specifically from the Housing Preservation Grant program. This funding will be used in all twelve units owned by the Bishop Sheen Housing Foundation to replace roofs, furnaces, and address accessibility issues, like installing handicap ramps.
“With winter right around the corner, this funding will make crucial structural repairs to low-income homes, which will keep them much warmer,” said Senator Schumer. “The grant comes at just the right time of year, when we can still get to work on these improvements. With better accessibility and heating efficiency, Bishop Sheen hopes to keep residents who rely on these low-income units in their homes as long as possible.”
“This is an important investment for the Bishop Sheen Housing Foundation,” said Senator Gillibrand, New York’s first member of the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly four decades. “Upgrading the roofs and furnaces at the Bishop Sheen homes will ensure our local residents can keep warm this winter and lower their energy bills.”
Rural Development funds from the Housing Preservation Grant program will be used to repair/replace roofs, septic/water systems, furnaces, energy efficiency/green build, and interior alterations to alleviate overcrowding of twelve owner-occupied very low-income housing units in Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, and Yates counties.