WILMINGTON — After Hurricane Florence ended the Historic Wilmington Foundation’s (HWF) plan to renovate the Jaffe building on Castle Street, the organization found a new way to return funds earmarked for the project to the community.
According to Executive Director Beth Rutledge, HWF had set aside funding and was in process of doing due diligence on the 1920s-era Jaffe building when it “blew down in the hurricane” in September.
“After Florence made that decision for us, we decided that we still wanted to invest that money in our community,” Rutledge said. “Our mission is to preserve and protect the irreplaceable, and this seemed like a good way to help do that.”
HWF decided to use approximately $100,000 in funds to create the “Florence Fix-Grant Program,” offering grants for up to $5,000 each, to help cover the cost of repairs on historic buildings in Wilmington.
“We’re offering grants – not loans, they do not have to be paid back,” Rutledge said, adding that the grants are offered for repairs, or deductibles on repairs, for houses 75-years-old or older (i.e. built in 1943 or before).
The grants are available for homes in the Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender county; homes do not need to be located in a historic district to qualify.
There are some requirements for the grants: the money must be used for Hurricane Florence-related damage, repairs must be done using historically appropriate material, and recipients must meet certain income guidelines to make sure the grants go to those who need the money the most.
“We do ask for photos, for quotes from contractors, just to make sure the grants are being used for damage from Hurricane Florence,” Rutledge said. “As for income we say guidelines because we don’t want an absolute cutoff, so if there’s someone who’s really close to the limit but they really need the funding we can do that.”
Rutledge said so far HWF has issued five grants, all at the $5,000 level, for a range of repairs.
“It’s run the gamut. We’ve seen everything from roof repairs to really serious flooding,” Rutledge said. “We’ve definitely seen the need — three of the people who applied so far are not yet back in their homes.”
HWF initially planned to offer the grants through Nov. 16 – as indicated on the application form — but has now extended the deadline to the end of the month. For more information, visit HWS’s Florence “Fix-It Grant Program” application website.
