South Central Community Action Partnership

Self-help housing is a group method build where 7-10 families come together under the guidance of a construction supervisor employed by South Central Community Action Partnership to build their own homes. Families build 65% of the homes themselves by committing 35 hours a week with friend and family volunteers. By putting in the sweat equity the family does not have to come up with a down payment and moves into their new homes with an instant equity of generally 90,000 - 100,000. Usda rural development provides the loans to qualifying families with interest as low as 1%.

The family stability department meets the crisis needs of people living in poverty, by utilizing agency and Community resources. Assessments are preformed using a holistic approach, evaluating strengths, weaknesses, obstacles and resources. Through this program we offer emergency food, onetime prescription assistance, emergency rental and utility assistance, employment assistance, homeless aid, educational assistance, financial management and family development counseling, along with many other services. These programs help individuals and families stabilize their crisis situation and create an Action plan for continued stability.

The weatherization program assists low-income households with home energy conservation, particularly the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children. A member of our staff who is a state certified analyst will conduct a comprehensive energy analysis of the home and determine the most cost effective measures to be installed. Our skilled technicians, using state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, will install the approved weatherization products to reduce the applicants energy consumption and increase comfort.

Liheap is the low income home energy assistance program. The program is designed to assist income-eligible individuals and households with their winter heating bills. Each household may apply for and be awarded assistance only once each program year. Benefits are paid directly to the heating vendor. Benefit payments are based on income, number of people in the household, type of heat, living arrangements and region of the state they live in. Any household in Idaho may be eligible if: the household's total gross income, based on the size of the household, is not more that the monthly amounts listed on the omb income poverty guidelines. Affordable housing program-this program provided 8 units of affordable housing in four counties to eligible individuals and families.