Housing Authority to Complete Renovations on Older Properties using Federal Funding

The plans to use a recent allocation of more than $400,000 in federal funding to complete interior renovations on two of its oldest properties.

Hardigree Terrace on Horton Street and Capitol Homes on Capitol Avenue, both properties in Winder, will receive renovations using funding provided annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The department awarded more than $1.9 billion to public housing authorities across the country, with $72 million awarded to the state of Georgia, $453,700 of which will go toward improvements in the Winder area.

Michelle Yawn, executive director for the Winder Housing Authority, said the renovations have been ongoing projects.

“They’ve been in the works for probably, maybe eight years, seven or eight years, and we’ve just been renovating as the fund become available,” she said.

With federal budget cuts looming, Yawn said the authority was unsure how much funding would be made available this year.

“We had heard that there could be cuts up to 20 percent, actually, even a little higher than that,” Yawn said. “I think we got 93 percent of what we were funded in 2010.”

The Winder Housing Authority operates more than 300 public housing units in the city and surrounding areas.