SWNCBC receives grants to increase home ownership and improve housing

Southwest Nebraska Community Betterment Corporation (SWNCBC) was recently awarded two grants including, an Owner Occupied Rehabilitation (ORR) grant and a Down Payment/Closing Cost Assistance (DPA) grant.
The ORR grant will be used in Perkins County to rehab seven homes to make them healthy, safe and energy efficient, as well as handicap accessible.
The DPA grant will be used to assist eight first-time home buyers in the five counties of Southwest Nebraska SWNCBC serves including Perkins, Chase, Dundy, Hitchcock and Hayes counties. These funds help make purchasing a home more affordable for first-time buyers.
For these grants to be awarded to a community or a non-profit organization, several steps must be taken to prove the need for these funds and the commitment to use the funds for improving the communities for which the funds are granted.
SWNCBC was able to meet the criteria in the grants they applied for due to donations from local businesses and organizations.
Pinnacle Bank, Western States Bank and Adams Bank & Trust donated matching funds for the administration of the DPA grant.
 The Perkins County Community Foundation Fund  (PCCFF) donated matching funds for administration of the Perkins County OOR grant.
Also making commitments to donate smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors for both programs were the Grant, Madrid, Elsie and Venango fire departments, Midwest Electric, Western Insurors and Farm Bureau Insurance.
Without this support, SWNCBC may not be able to bring these opportunities to residents of Perkins County and Southwest Nebraska.
SWNCBC is a non-profit organization that works to increase homeownership and improve housing in Southwest Nebraska. The funds that support their programs are provided by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (NDED) through the Nebraska Affordable Housing Program (NAHP).
The SWNCBC team consists of Administrator Amy Thelander, Program Manager Deb Marshall and Administrative Assistant Amyee Williams.