FERRIDAY, La. – Foundation work and repairs to a leaky roof were among renovations that were made to Dorothy Crumb’s home — work she said she couldn’t have done without a federal grant she qualified for this year.

&uot;There’s no way I&160;could have done it without (the grant), since I’m on a fixed income,&uot; said Crumb, an elderly, low-income Ferriday resident.

And Crumb isn’t alone. In fact, work on all nine Ferriday houses approved for renovation grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas has been completed, a bank official involved with the project has confirmed. We finished the last of those houses last week,&uot; said John Taylor, Concordia Bank senior vice president. &uot;A tenth house would have been funded, but it was determined that it couldn’t be repaired to the point where it would be livable.&uot;

In February, the Town of Ferriday was approved for a $50,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank through Concordia Bank to renovate single-family houses in Ferriday.

Since the money was in the form of grants, not loans, recipients will not have to pay the money back.

And the money could be used to do a variety of housing renovations including, but not limited to, roof repairs, new insulation, heating and cooling installation, floor repair and installation of vinyl siding.

Families who applied for grants could have annual incomes of no more than $10,350 for a single person to $19,450 for a family of eight or more people.

Recipients had to be homeowners and have to put in 40 hours of work repairing their own home. They also had to attend two one-and-a-half-hour sessions on home ownership and financial services.

Concordia Bank should be able to apply in spring 2001 for a grant to renovate more low-income houses in 2002, Taylor said.