DALLAS, March 1, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Over the course of 52 years, a house can do a lot of settling, and 74-year-old Ollie Bynum says her house is no different. In fact, she said one end of the house had settled into more of a slump and was in desperate need of repair.
Thankfully, Ms. Bynum was awarded a $4,214 Special Needs Assistance Program (SNAP) grant by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Cypress Bank in Pittsburg, Texas, to assist with much-needed structural repairs to her home.
In 2010, FHLB Dallas set aside $1.5 million of its annual Affordable Housing Program (AHP) funds for SNAP, a rehabilitation program available through FHLB Dallas member institutions that provides grant funds to assist income-qualified, special needs homeowners with home repairs and modifications. Each SNAP recipient is eligible to receive $5,000. If a member financial institution contributes at least $350 toward costs associated with the rehabilitation, the homeowner is eligible to receive up to $7,000 from FHLB Dallas.
Ms. Bynum is a widow living on Social Security and without assistance from the SNAP grant would not have been able to afford the repairs. Ms. Bynum has been a loyal customer of Cypress Bank for more than 20 years, and it was Shirley Mead, Loan Officer at Cypress Bank, who introduced Ms. Bynum to the SNAP program.
Once she qualified, work began on Ms. Bynum's house about two weeks after she received the grant, and was completed in about four days. The entire experience, Ms. Bynum said, was very good.
"Everyone at Cypress Bank was so helpful and professional," she said, "and the men who did the work were all very professional and polite."
Repairs to Ms. Bynum's home included replacing a support beam under the floor of her bedroom and new flooring and carpet. Workers also replaced some exterior siding, installed new windows and screens, built new front steps and constructed a retaining wall to stop a drainage problem adjacent to her carport.
Pittsburg-based Cypress Bank has worked on six SNAP grants ranging from $4,214 to $7,000. Recipients were able to make needed repairs to their homes such as replacing roofs, making bathrooms and other areas of the house handicap accessible, replacing heating and air conditioning systems, and replacing or repairing doors and windows.
"For the customers who have benefited from the SNAP program, there was just no other way these home repairs were going to happen because the recipients simply could not afford it," said Mr. B. Gooding, Vice President at Cypress Bank. "Homes have to be maintained, and these grants have extended the life of many homes."
About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 12 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $65.1 billion as of December 31, 2009, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to more than 900 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas. For more information, visit the FHLB Dallas web site at fhlb.com.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3013
About Cypress Bank
Cypress Bank is locally owned and has served the financial needs of Northeast Texas families since 1977. Its home office is located in Pittsburg, Texas, and it has branch offices in the cities of Commerce, Lone Star and Mount Pleasant. Cypress Bank is a full service, family financial center providing checking, savings and IRA accounts, as well as all types of consumer and commercial loans to its customers in Camp, Titus, Morris, Franklin, and Hunt Counties. For more information, contact the Cypress Bank main office at (903) 856-6653.