FERRIDAY, La. — For more than three years, Florastine Kelly used a 10-gallon washtub not to wash clothes, but to help catch rainwater falling through a one-foot wide hole in the roof above her laundry room. But the tub and two five-gallon buckets Kelly also used to catch water now sit unused in her carport, thanks to repairs that were made to her roof in the last several days using a $5,000 federal grant.

&uot;I’m an old widow woman on a fixed income, so I&160;know I&160;couldn’t have done this work on my own,&uot; said Kelly, 75.

In February, Ferriday received a $50,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas through Concordia Bank. That money is to be granted as 10 awards of $5,000 each to renovate single-family houses owned by low-income people.

And if work on all 10 houses can be completed by October, Ferriday can qualify for another $50,000 to help repair 10 more houses.

&uot;The goal isn’t to make these homes luxurious — just make them comfortable,&uot; said Antonne Duncan, a member of a committee formed to help administer the program.

And at houses like Kelly’s, the need for such repairs is evident, with no room in the house untouched by the brown spots that signal water damage. &uot;I’ve caught people as they’ve come by and asked them to fix it, but the (repairs) wouldn’t last,&uot; said Kelly, who has lived in the house since it was built in 1948.

But in February, then-Mayor Odeal Montgomery delivered to Kelly some information about the grant program and how to qualify for funds. Five months later, Kelly’s new metal roof is almost finished.