CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa (WTAJ) — Governor Tom Wolf announced on Tuesday that funding for damaged houses is on its way to 17 counties. This includes Cameron, Centre and Clearfield Counties.

Neighbors in the Clearfield County area tell us they’ve been seeing houses become more damaged over the years. Now that more funding is available, county development has come up with a plan to rehabilitate those homes.

Clearfield resident, Adam Caldwell says “I’ve seen plenty of blighted houses man, east end, in particular, there’s tons of houses up there that need work, that is condemned, falling apart…It’s bad.”

Governor Wolf awarded Clearfield County $257,000 through the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program to help fix the issue. The funding is said to help the area, especially after the financial hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clearfield’s Community Development Specialist, Lisa Kovalick, says “a lot of people in some of the municipalities come to me asking for me to find money to help them raise blight. If we tear it down-, every blighted property we have in the county were destroying our tax base.”

The Clearfield County Planning & Community Development Office was already in the process of rehabbing some homes, but they say this could speed up the process. Kovalick says most homes that were abandoned, were left behind by someone who passed away. She says this initiative will help move some new families in.

Kovalick says those who live in low-income households that needing work, you are able to apply for grant money from the county.