Main Street Matters: Accessible Housing Grants

Main Street Matters: Accessible Housing Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
Amount: Up to US $300,000
Last Updated: August 05, 2025

Summary

The Main Street Matters program offers Accessible Housing Grants to enhance living conditions for individuals with permanent physical disabilities. This initiative promotes community revitalization by funding essential renovations, ensuring individuals can remain in their homes rather than institutional care. Eligible applicants include local governments and nonprofits. The program emphasizes collaboration with local funding sources and prioritizes projects that address immediate community needs, helping to create inclusive and supportive environments for all residents.

Overview

Main Street Matters Overview The Main Street Matters (MSM) program is designed to support our downtown cores and surrounding neighborhoods with tools to create healthy, vibrant, and welcoming communities. Funding is available to support revitalization efforts in planning, business support, aesthetic improvements, and the increase of safety and security. Communities may wish to consider designation through the MSM program as a Main Street or Elm Street. Designation is an opportunity for targeted investment and development including the identification of specific needs for investment and/or development and the design and implementation of a strategy to address those needs. Uses A flexible tool for use in community and economic development for a variety of uses including planning activities, façade grant programs, business improvement grant programs, accessible housing programs, and district development grants. Eligibility Units of local government (counties, cities, boroughs, townships, towns, and home rule municipalities)Redevelopment and/or housing authoritiesNonprofit organizations to include economic development organizations, housing corporations, etc.Community development corporationsBusiness improvement districts, neighborhood improvement districts, downtown improvement districts, and similar organizations incorporated as authorities Eligible Uses of Funds E.  Accessible Housing Grants Activities Accessible housing grants are available to undertake accessibility improvements to housing units for people with permanent physical disabilities in order to allow the individuals to reside in their current home rather than an institution or to return to the community from an institution. Eligible activities include: a. Construction, renovation, and/or installation of adaptations, including the cost to evaluate the beneficiary’s need with regard to the installation of the proposed modification(s).b. Adaptive modifications, such as ramps, lifts, door-widening, visual doorbells, audio phones, visual phone signalers, etc., that will improve the ability of a person with permanent, physical disabilities to enter and exit the home.c. Adaptive modifications, such as widening hallways, lowering kitchen counters, enlarging bathrooms, adding grab bars, etc., that will increase the ability of a person with permanent, physical disabilities to perform activities of daily living.d. Adaptive modifications that do not extend beyond the original footprint of the housing unit that will enable a person with a permanent, physical disability to remain in the home and prevent institutionalization.e. Other items not included above but clearly demonstrated as integral to the person with the disability remaining in the home. Funding Requirements and Limitations a. Accessible housing grants may not exceed $300,000.b. A dollar-for-dollar match is required for accessible housing grants.c. Applicants must demonstrate coordination with other local funding sources to address homes with building code deficiencies that also need home modifications. Note: Applicant is not required to manage the coordinating funds.d. Applicants must provide existing or proposed local program guidelines for DCED review and approval.e. Applications must include a description of:i. How this program will address the needs of each program beneficiary and the program service area,ii. The anticipated number of persons with permanent, physical disabilities that will benefit from the program,iii. The nature and extent of collaboration among existing local organizations in the planning and implementation of the program,iv. The outreach component of the program providing information and promoting public awareness,v. Secured sources of funds for this project,vi. Additional sources of funds available to undertake other major home repairs such as Act 137, HOME Investment Partnership, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), etc., and how those resources will be coordinated,vii. How the quality of life and the quality of housing for persons with permanent, physical disabilities will be maintained and improved,viii. How the program will build capacity in the local community and relevant local organizations to plan and implement home modification programs, andix. How follow-up measures will be conducted to ensure that appropriate modifications are properly installed and that the program beneficiary has been trained to utilize the modifications.f. The ultimate owner/user of these grants must be a public entity, a charitable nonprofit, or an income-eligible homeowner or renter. Income-eligible homeowners/renters include low-, moderate-, and middle-income homeowners may not exceed 120% of the area median income.g. Modifications, renovations, etc. to a group home or some form of an assisted living facility are not eligible activities. Funding Priorities a. Applications demonstrating the following:Preference will be given to persons with permanent, physical disabilities at risk of becoming institutionalized or persons of any age with permanent, physical disabilities moving from an institution into the community. Applicant will serve an area that does not have an existing home modification program in place. Requires documentation regarding the availability of programs in the local area. The program will make the best use of limited funds and leverage other resources. The program will achieve an economy of scale by providing services in a multi-jurisdictional or regional area.b. Programs giving preference to people with very low income, as defined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 8 Income Guidelines, or those people below poverty level as defined by the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines, whichever is more advantageous to the beneficiary. These two standards include persons at or below 50% of the area median county income and persons at or below 100% of the Federal poverty level.

Eligibility

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