Federal program means new homes for Louise women
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Brenda Sommer Tending Her Critters Florence Warzecha eyes her goats and chickens during her daily visit to tend to the critters in the yard adjacent to her old home. That tottering structure was demolished last week and Warzecha will receive a free new home under a federal grant program.

Three Louise women are about to experience a dream when they receive free, new homes.

The homes, for low-income people, are being built through a Wharton County contract with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which in turn is funded for the project by the federal HOME program.

"I couldn't believe it," said 79-year-old Florence Warzecha, who was feeding her pens of chickens, goats and guinea hens last week at the site where her old wood-frame home once sat. That structure, beyond repair, had just been demolished with volunteer help from K-C Lease Service, CIC Construction and the county.

Warzecha walks four blocks every day to feed her animals, making her way from her temporary home at daughter Janet Seiler's house to the now vacant corner where her home once sat.

Warzecha and the two other women in Louise - all widows - who will receive new homes are required to find somewhere else to live for up to a year, so builders have time to do their work. All three women are currently staying with relatives in the county.

The women all own their homes, and are current with all taxes, as required by the program.

In Warzecha's case, she and her late husband bought their two-story, three-bedroom house in 1972, but the structure was almost 100 years old when demolished.

"I've had water in the house four times," she said. "It was cold. There was a 2-inch gap between the wall and the floor. I'd stick rugs and stuff everywhere to block the drafts."

In its place will be a new three-bedroom home.

One of those three bedrooms will be dedicated to sewing, one of her major hobbies.

"It finally went down, and I'm glad to see it go," she said.

Donna Johnson, project manager, is with Grantworks, the county's consultant on grants from the federal HOME program, which also helped rebuild flood-damaged homes in El Campo recently.

She said the three Louise women were chosen from people who applied after seeing advertisements encouraging them to try out for the project.

"We took applications, went through a scoring and ranking system, which makes it very objective, then homes are selected that way," Johnson said.

"Applicants have to own their homes, the same as here in El Campo, it's the same agency. They're identical to the disaster relief grants in El Campo, but what changes is income."

Once construction begins, it shouldn't take long to complete the new houses, she said.

"The builders are already in the area, and the homes are supposed to be built in 90 days, except for things beyond their control, like rain," Johnson said. "They go up pretty quickly, especially once the foundation's prepared."

There may be more funding for more homes in the future, but since the money comes from grants, it's not guaranteed. Should more money become available, notices will appear in the paper, Johnson said.

"But we keep a list of all the applications we took," she said. "If another funding round occurs, part of what we do is advertise for applications, but the ones who've already applied are already in the system."

Johnson said seeing the results of this particular program is especially rewarding.

"You get to see some real, immediate results, and how it affects an individual's life - it changes their lives," she said.