CAMPBELL — Patty Pethtel is hoping that if all goes according to plan, she will be able to enjoy her own version of a home makeover – and stay warmer in the winter.

“I need a new furnace and gutters,” Pethtel, whose home was built in 1911, said. “I have two rooms in my house that are ice cold because there’s no insulation at all.”

All of that could change for Pechtel, however, because she was among about 50 city residents who attended a meeting Wednesday afternoon at city hall to apply for the Community Housing Impact and Preservation program. If approved, Pechtel may have those issues addressed, and then some.

Adaleida Rivera moved into her home in 2012 and said she needs new windows, though she already paid for a new roof. She has spent about 20 years trying to receive home assistance, she added.

“We need this. … I take care of my house,” Rivera said.

The CHIP program provides down payment assistance to eligible homeowners of low to moderate incomes and includes installation and / or repairs to foundations, roofs and gutters, as well as electrical upgrades, plumbing, furnaces, water heaters, insulation, doors and windows, and lead-based paint abatements.

In January 2024, the Ohio Department of Development provided $21.6 million in funding to 29 communities for improved housing and offered home ownership and rental assistance to families of low to moderate incomes. CHIP also partners with communities to improve their housing stock via initiating such services, the ODD’s website shows.

“This funding is helping create environments across the state where every Ohioan can grow, succeed and build brighter futures for their families,” Gov. Mike DeWine said early last year.

Addressing the residents at Wednesday’s meeting was Phillip O. Puryear, the Mahoning County Healthy Homes & Lead Hazard Control program’s director.

“The CHIP grant program is a partnership with Campbell and Struthers,” Puryear said, noting that because of that, the two cities each received $300,000 in grant money.

The Healthy Homes & Lead Hazard Control program has two smaller programs under its umbrella: the owner-home repair and owner-occupied private rehabilitation programs.

The owner home-repair effort aims to preserve the area’s affordable housing stock via offering limited financial assistance to correct a variety of home problems. Types of projects generally deemed eligible include structural and mechanical system repairs, plumbing system tap-ins, weatherization, wells and septic systems and lead-based paint hazard reduction.

Eligible households are those with incomes less than 80% of the area median income, which is $64,000 for a family of four and $44,800 for a single person.

Under the owner-occupied private rehabilitation program, financial assistance is available to homeowners who meet the same benchmark.

Its main thrust is to correct substandard conditions so that homes are durable, safe, healthy, affordable and energy-efficient, which means that priority is usually given to addressing more serious conditions such as the home’s structural components including walls, roofs, floors and foundations. Eligible repairs can include windows, gutters, roofs, furnaces, electrical components that include a new 100-ampere service, water tanks, plumbing and structural deficiencies.

Ineligible types of projects include installing air-conditioning units, along with work to detached garages, room additions and general property improvements as well as adding carpeting, wallpaper and other cosmetic items.

Puryear noted that assistance will be a five-year, 0% interest and 100% forgivable loan that will be reduced 20% annually. A mortgage and promissory note with a declining repayment agreement will be used to secure the loan, he said.

Applicants are asked to drop off their forms, along with required documents, at or after 8 a.m. Monday at the city hall building, 351 Tenney Ave. Each application will be timestamped on a first-come, first-served basis, Puryear noted.

Work is likely to begin this summer.

From there, county officials will review applications, then determine who will be preliminarily eligible for services. Projects will go to bid to a list of licensed contractors with whom the Healthy Homes & Lead Hazard Control program works, he said.