Albany residents sprucing up homes, "One Block at a Time"

For the last two years, its been difficult for 75-year-old retired watch repairman Cliff Jenkins to get around in his own home.

Advanced diabetes has caused nerve and muscle damage, and Jenkins now uses a wheelchair to get around.

But the living room in his home of more than 30 years on 27th Avenue in Albany had a sunken living room.

He had to use a makeshift ramp to get into and out of the room, explained Trent Suing, housing rehabilitation coordinator for Community Services Consortium.

Jenkins is one of four local residents taking part in a new housing rehabilitation program sponsored by the CSC and the city of Albany. It combines the resources of the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program, the weatherization program, YouthBuild and the citys block grant funds.

The program is called One Block at a Time, and it offers low-income homeowners no-interest deferred loans and skilled technicians to fix up their properties.

Last June, CSC Youth Build members handed out information fliers advertising the program in targeted neighborhoods throughout the city.

Suing said he first learned about Jenkins 17 years ago when he was a private contractor and installed some vinyl windows and doors in the 1,000-square-foot house.

YouthBuild crew members worked under and around the house, and John Jolings contracting crew went to work repainting the homes interior and exterior walls, replacing rotted siding, building up the sunken floor, installing laminated wooden flooring, replacing vinyl in the kitchen and bathroom and contracting out for a new central heating system and new gutters.

They replaced the water heater and demolished an old shed that was in the back yard.

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Albany residents sprucing up homes, "One Block at a Time"