New Fairbanks programs target rental shortages, aging homes

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services is launching a dual-pronged offensive to help combat a local housing shortage that persists regardless of income level.

FNHS Executive Director Nadine Winters reports one initiative, the Fairbanks Vacant/Blighted Home Improvement program, focuses specifically on creating new rental units to bring more inventory to a strained market.

There’s also the HUD Healthy Homes program, which FNHS received a $2 million grant for. It provides essential support to existing homeowners, such as a recent project that helped a local resident with things like plumbing and moisture issues.

“If you income qualify, we then do a survey on the home. We prioritize the repairs. We hire the contractors. We supervise and we take care of it,” Winters said, specifically of the HUD Healthy Homes program that has an income limit.

Winters said despite FNHS’s initial skepticism regarding the need for the HUD Healthy Homes program, the nonprofit is now preparing to apply for additional funding due to high demand.

The current initiatives represent a roughly $4 million investment into the community’s infrastructure between the two programs.

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