Polk applying for $750,000 grant for housing, daycare

COLUMBUS — Polk County plans to apply for a $750,000 grant to provide affordable housing in Columbus.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday night and held a public hearing regarding the grant application to the 2018 Community Development Block Grant.

Housing Assistance Corporation Executive Director Sarah Grymes spoke to commissioners about the grant.

The grant, if approved, would assist a select number of income -qualified and criteria-eligible renters with housing, infrastructure development and sidewalk extensions. The grant would be used to acquire land for apartment units, a low-income daycare facility, a community building and future affordable housing projects.

Thermal Belt Outreach Executive Director George Alley spoke during the public hearing.

Alley said more than half of Outreach’s current population is rent burdened.

Alley said Outreach served 814 individual households this year, and has 2,500 in the database, with some families coming in every few years.

Alley also said Outreach only serves Polk County residents, with 40 percent of those living in the Mill Spring and Sunny View areas of the county.

“We have about 11 acres there we’re looking to develop,” Alley said. “We’re looking for different avenues to provide some affordable housing.”

Grymes reviewed Polk County statistics, including that the average annual retirement income is $30,490. Polk County is 92.3 percent rural, and the average weekly wage is $599, which ranks 90th out of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

Grymes said 14.7 percent of Polk County residents, or 2,942 people, lived in poverty and struggled to make ends meet in 2014, when the state poverty rate was 17.2 percent.

“For a family of three, it costs $20.94 per hour to make ends meet in the county, where the medium wage equals 69.3 percent of what’s needed,” Grymes said.

Grymes also said 25.2 percent of children in the county, or 875 children, lived in poverty in 2014, compared to 24.1 percent statewide.

Also, 31.4 percent of the county’s residents were low-income on average in 2014.

If the grant is awarded, officials will look into partnering with the Polk County High School Construction Program for housing, the Housing Assistance Corporation for construction, Thermal Belt Outreach and Steps to HOPE for services, and the Western Carolina Community Action for daycare, Grymes said.

Polk County Commissioners have scheduled a second public hearing for 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24, before deciding whether or not to apply for the grant.