Recently, SERCAP’s Certified CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) Loan Fund partnered with the agency’s Essential & Critical Needs Grant Program to assist a low-income family of four in Lancaster County, VA, to replace their individual household well. The family has been living in their home for over 23 years, but recently they began experiencing difficulties with their well. The water pressure and supply had decreased so much that they could not even fill-up their bathtub with water. This of course, meant that they did not have enough water each day to fill the need for their four-person household. However, due to their low-income status, the family was unable to afford the cost of replacing the well on their own.
Fortunately, SERCAP was able to step-in and provide financial assistance, through a low-interest, affordable loan and grant combination, which covered the full cost of drilling the new well. SERCAP’s Loan Fund provided a loan of $9,500.00, and SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Grant Program provided a grant of $1,000.00, to cover the full $10,500.00 cost of the new well. Now the family once again has reliable access to clean, safe potable water in their home, and the peace of mind that comes with it.
Without SERCAP’s Loan Fund and Essential & Critical Needs Grant Programs, and other similar services, many low-income individuals and communities would be forced to go without such necessities as reliable access to clean drinking water, indoor plumbing, safe and affordable housing, community development and infrastructure needs, water/wastewater infrastructure solutions, and more. It is important to remember that even in the US in the 21st Century; there are those who do not have reliable access to clean, safe drinking water, environmentally sound septic facilities, and affordable housing.
*Funding for SERCAP’s Loan Fund is primarily made possible by USDA Rural Development, and SERCAP’s Agency Revolving Loan Fund. Funding for SERCAP’s Essential & Critical Needs Program is made possible through a Budget Appropriation from the Virginia General Assembly, which is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD). Additionally, all of SERCAP’s programs in Virginia, are leveraged by the Budget Appropriation from the Virginia General Assembly, administered by DHCD.