Realizing that successful economic development goes hand in hand with strengthening distressed neighborhoods, the LRC and several partners applied for and received a Strong Neighborhoods Fund grant for $500,000.
The grant will be used to build four new homes and purchase and rehabilitate six additional homes in Laurel’s Old Town neighborhood, which is the area between Central Avenue and Oak Street (east-west) and the waterfront and Market Street (north-south). It is the oldest part of Laurel.
Milford Housing Development Corporation built the four new homes. Sussex County Habitat for Humanity has purchased and will rehabilitate six homes. The town donated a vacant residential lot at the corner of Oak and Market streets, as well as a section of the town-owned parking lot on Second Street.
The LRC also received a $1 million line of credit from NCALL to help finance the work, if needed. The Strong Neighborhoods project represents an evolution in mission for the LRC.
A second Strong Neighborhoods grant awarded in September 2020 will enable Sussex County Habitat for Humanity to identify and acquire 10 more properties in Old Town and West Laurel. The five homes Habitat has targeted in Old Town are part of a new subdivision called Hope Hill.
Read the News Journal story.
