La. Housing Corporation receives large response from Blue Tarp Program; closes applications early

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Claremont C Edwards has lived in his home in South Baton Rouge for decades, but time and weather have taken a toll over the years.

“It’s damaged there from the storms,” explained Edwards.

After suffering a stroke, Edwards hasn’t been able to fix his roof and is looking for help to get his tarp permanently removed. A grant program with the Louisiana Housing Corporation might be the solution.

“It’s aimed at helping low-income families and homeowners who are unable to repair or replace their roofs,” explained Raymond Rodriguez, Deputy Administrator of Disaster Recovery at LHC.

He’s talking about the Louisiana Blue Tarp Program. Over the last three years, Rodriguez said they’ve been able to use state and federal dollars to repair or fully replace over 230 roofs for people across the region. Rodriguez says although there are similar programs out there, this one helps them see results faster.

RELATED: Applications being taken for financial assistance to help cover cost of roof repairs, replacements

“It’s not one of those programs that you apply for, and you have to wait a long time,” explained Rodriguez. “We actually have a lot more flexibility. There’s a lot less red tape, regulations, requirements, that we need to go through in order to assist individuals.”

This year’s applications opened for homeowners in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, and West Feliciana Parishes who live at their homes full time and make at or below 60% of the area median income. Rodriguez said over 100 applications have already been submitted. He’s looking forward to helping more people like Edwards restore their homes.

“Being able to finally put that roof on their home that they’ve been needing for so many years, it’s really been great to be able to help everybody,” said Rodriguez.

Applications, which were originally scheduled to be open until Friday, have closed early due to the large number of applicants that have applied.

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