Lewisville residents with limited incomes can breathe a little easier thanks to a new housing initiative aimed at fixing those pesky HVAC problems at no personal cost. The recently announced Minor Housing Rehab Program, supported by the Community Development Block Grant, promises to help eligible homeowners with essential repairs or replacements to their heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

According to the city of Lewisville, Texas, the program is aimed exclusively at low- to moderate-income residents who could help keep their homes comfortable and safe year-round. To qualify, residents must have owned their home for at least two years, use it as their primary residence, be current on mortgages and insurance, earn less than $57,500 per year as a single homeowner, and have less than $20,000 in savings have liquid assets. Each additional household member increases the income eligibility by $8,250.

Applications are currently being accepted, but the service will only be provided by an HVAC contractor selected and vetted by the city. The deal is straightforward: Once approved, all funds for the necessary work will be disbursed directly from the City of Lewisville to the contractor, so residents won't see a single invoice.

Additionally, City staff will assist applicants in Hakha Chin, Spanish and English during scheduled sessions at the Lewisville Public Library to ensure that no language barriers impede participation in the program. The first of these sessions took place on Tuesday March 5th, with two further opportunities for personal assistance on Wednesday and Thursday, where Spanish assistance will also be available.

Those in need of this vital support have been directed to the City's official website where they can find further information, guidelines and online applications. It's a solid move by the city government, which recognizes that maintaining a home goes beyond aesthetics and is about maintaining the health and well-being of community members. Every resident deserves warmth in the winter and relief from the heat in the summer, and through the Minor Housing Rehab Program, Lewisville ensures its citizens have just that.

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Up to $15,000 is available for low-income residents to replace home air conditioning systems.

The crisis Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Replacement Program, through Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, is available to homeowners in need of replacing their HVAC systems.

Palm Beach County residents must be eligible below 60% of the state median income of $57,703 or 150% poverty level and show they are in a crisis situation. In the United States, poverty levels range from $18,310 for one person to $46,630 for a family of eight.

Completed applications must show one or more of the following:

The HVAC system no longer cools

The HVAC unit is 10 years or older

High energy bills proof.

Life-threatening environment via a doctor’s statement

For more information and to apply, visit For help with the application, call the Palm Beach County Community Services Department Programs Call Center at 833-CSD-WILL.

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Milwaukee ranks third in the nation for residents without access to running water at home, according to a new report from Kings College London.

The report found that there are approximately 3,000 households in Milwaukee with no water pipes – if four people lived in one house, it would mean 12,000 people in the city of Milwaukee do not have access to water at home.

This number has remained unchanged since 2000, according to the report.

As other cities have improved, Milwaukee’s ranking jumped from 20th to 3rd among the metropolitan areas with the highest relative proportion of household poverty between 2000 and 2017.

We see no change in poverty in plumbing equates to no progress,” says the report. “Stagnation should be understood as a wake-up call to the heads of state and government in these cities to prioritize measures that are geared towards infrastructural equity and supply for all households.”

Most of these houses belong to people of color in poor areas.

But the city of Milwaukee says the report is incorrect.

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“We have water meters on every apartment building in Milwaukee,” said Jeff Fleming, director of communications for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “It goes against logic for anyone to claim that there are thousands of uninstalled homes in Milwaukee.”

The report found that other cities across the country, including San Francisco and Phoenix, are facing similar problems, but Milwaukee’s history of segregation and redlining has exacerbated plumbing poverty as well as the city’s location in the Rust Belt. The unforgiving downsizing of Milwaukee’s heavy industrial sector that began in the 1970s hit the city’s black middle class hardest, and parts of the city never recovered.

“The legacy of redlining, institutional discrimination and urbanism against blacks have created an unequal and unfair environment for people of color, especially black Milwaukeans,” the report said.

In 2017, 28 percent of those with incomplete plumbing were black, although blacks make up only 16.1 percent of metropolitan Milwaukee’s population.

“Future research is needed to examine the geography of overrepresentation among black Milwaukeeans and to examine whether the unequal outcomes of poverty outcomes in plumbing represent a new form of infrastructural redlining in the city,” the report said.

Kings College London has studied a handful of cities. Austin, Texas jumped from 17th to fifth place; Cleveland, 33rd through sixth; Nashville from 22nd to 12th; and Seattle from March 37th to 14th

A report published last year by Marc Levine, a professor emeritus of history, economic development, and urban research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, found that Milwaukee ranks last in the study of racial inequality in the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas .

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OAKLAND (KPIX) – The high property prices are not a problem for those who can afford to stay there. But it does lead some African Americans to sell their homes and move. Now, a new program from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is giving low-income black homeowners the chance to profit from their homes without leaving them.

In the 1980s, Oakland was 46% African American, the largest black-dominated city in California. But since then, the city has lost nearly 40,000 of its black residents, some of them due to skyrocketing housing costs. Gentrification is taking its toll on low-income communities and changing the character of Oakland.

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“We have moved from a city that is really rich in art and culture and a high social life to something more sterile,” said third generation Oaklander, Bobby Arte. “The neighborhoods are all starting to look the same. There’s no such thing as the eclectic feel and vibe of the city. And we definitely don’t see that much diversity. “

Arte is the chief operating officer of Well Nest Company, a development company that has become part of a project to rescue black homeowners in Oakland. They do it with backyard in-laws or ADUs, short for accessory dwelling units. His company offers a range of different designs of ADUs and the expertise to guide homeowners through creating them.

“So we can really help streamline this process for the homeowner who doesn’t want to deal with the city, the planning and the design,” said Arte.

It’s a pilot project called Keys to Equity, which gives low-income black homeowners the opportunity to become landlords, earn income without selling their homes, while offering an apartment for someone else. The program is organized by the nonprofit Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services.

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“So we really want to test the assumption, can ADU stabilize the community we care about?” Said RNHS Executive Director Nikki Beasley.

Meanwhile, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has allocated $ 2 million to guarantee home loans so lenders don’t take the risk of lending to homeowners who otherwise would not be qualified, according to Ruby Bolaria-Shifrin, CZI director of housing affordability.

“So you don’t have to be rich or have a lot of equity in your home to get an ADU,” she said.

All you need is a back yard or even a garage that can be converted. The program is only possible due to changes in the law that facilitate the construction of ADUs. The organizers estimate that there are now 20,000 condos in Oakland alone that could qualify for a backyard apartment.

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In most cases, the units can be self-financing and, over time, give low-income African Americans a chance to capitalize on the hot housing market rather than fall prey to it.

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South San Francisco is giving away 75 air purifiers to low-income households that qualify. The program, which started last week, comes when the Caldor Fire south of Lake Tahoe has deteriorated air quality in the city and much of the state.

“One of the reasons we wanted to give away air purifiers was to address the inequalities within climate change and the smoke-filled air that is very dangerous for residents,” said Councilor James Coleman.

South San Francisco households earning 50% or less of the median income for the area ($ 63,950 for one person, $ 73,100 for two) are eligible for one air purifier per household.

Bay Area residents outside of South San Francisco can apply for a free air purifier from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which also runs an air purifier delivery program for low-income households.

Basic air filtration systems typically cost between $ 100 and $ 150, while better units can cost several hundred dollars.

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