Conroe Courier - News
A place to call home
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| Anthony Cotton sits with his daughter Annesia, 4, in their new home, built by city of Conroe Community Development Block Grant funds, in Conroe’s Madeley Quarter. Mayor Webb Melder, City Council members and city officials presented Cotton with the keys to the home. |
By Nancy Flake
Thursday was a day of new beginnings for Conroe residents Alfred Chatman and Anthony Cotton, who received keys to their new homes built through the city’s Community Development Block Grant program.
It also was a day of celebration for both men, who, along with family members and friends, welcomed Conroe City Council members and city officials for the official unveilings of the two houses, located in Dugan and the Madeley Quarter.
Since 1999, 43 new homes in those two historic areas of Conroe have been built to replace delapidated structures. The CDBG program is funded through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and requires no matching funds from the city. Applicants must own their home, be current on taxes and must live in the home, and all taxes and insurance must be current.
Both Chatman and Cotton, the recipients of the new homes, will be free from mortgage payments and trying to keep up with repairs.
“I’m happy with it. I like everything,” Chatman, 51, an employee with the Conroe Independent School District, said as he, his mother Irma and brother Carl entered the home officially for the first time. “I’m thrilled to death.”
Mayor Webb Melder handed the key to Chatman.
“On behalf of the CDBG, the city of Conroe and the City Council – it’s a team – we’d like to present you with the keys to your home,” Melder said.
The informal ceremony was repeated at Cotton’s new home, where he was surrounded by friends and family, including his mother Ruby and his daughter, Annesia, 4.
A single father, Cotton, 36, is disabled and works with special needs children in the Sheldon Independent School District.
Both Cotton and Chatman picked out the colors and materials for their homes. Each home has 1,196 square feet in floor space and cost approximately $72,000 each to build.
Builder Randy Malouf successfully bid to construct both homes and did so within the 90-day construction schedule and within budget, according to CDBG Director Nancy Mikeska.
She recently submitted a grant request of nearly $400,000 to the state of Texas, and if it is approved, city officials hope to renovate six or more homes with those funds. Council members also recently approved a resolution expanding the areas in the city targeted for CDBG funds, which would allow more homes to be built each year.
As Cotton’s family and officials toured the new home – which replaces the 980-square foot home built in 1948 that housed three generations of his family – Annesia and her father sat quietly on the carpeted living room floor while she drew a picture of the house.
“This is for her,” he said, pointing to his daughter. “Just to know that she’s going to have a nice home and I’m going give her everything she needs because this house will let me do that. ... I’m overwhelmed right now.
“I’m truly blessed.”
It also was a day of celebration for both men, who, along with family members and friends, welcomed Conroe City Council members and city officials for the official unveilings of the two houses, located in Dugan and the Madeley Quarter.
Since 1999, 43 new homes in those two historic areas of Conroe have been built to replace delapidated structures. The CDBG program is funded through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and requires no matching funds from the city. Applicants must own their home, be current on taxes and must live in the home, and all taxes and insurance must be current.
Both Chatman and Cotton, the recipients of the new homes, will be free from mortgage payments and trying to keep up with repairs.
“I’m happy with it. I like everything,” Chatman, 51, an employee with the Conroe Independent School District, said as he, his mother Irma and brother Carl entered the home officially for the first time. “I’m thrilled to death.”
Mayor Webb Melder handed the key to Chatman.
“On behalf of the CDBG, the city of Conroe and the City Council – it’s a team – we’d like to present you with the keys to your home,” Melder said.
The informal ceremony was repeated at Cotton’s new home, where he was surrounded by friends and family, including his mother Ruby and his daughter, Annesia, 4.
A single father, Cotton, 36, is disabled and works with special needs children in the Sheldon Independent School District.
Both Cotton and Chatman picked out the colors and materials for their homes. Each home has 1,196 square feet in floor space and cost approximately $72,000 each to build.
Builder Randy Malouf successfully bid to construct both homes and did so within the 90-day construction schedule and within budget, according to CDBG Director Nancy Mikeska.
She recently submitted a grant request of nearly $400,000 to the state of Texas, and if it is approved, city officials hope to renovate six or more homes with those funds. Council members also recently approved a resolution expanding the areas in the city targeted for CDBG funds, which would allow more homes to be built each year.
As Cotton’s family and officials toured the new home – which replaces the 980-square foot home built in 1948 that housed three generations of his family – Annesia and her father sat quietly on the carpeted living room floor while she drew a picture of the house.
“This is for her,” he said, pointing to his daughter. “Just to know that she’s going to have a nice home and I’m going give her everything she needs because this house will let me do that. ... I’m overwhelmed right now.
“I’m truly blessed.”
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