Home renovation funding gets boost

The P.E.I. government has added more money to a home renovation program aimed at helping Islanders with low incomes or with a disability.

Last December, response to the new initiative was so overwhelming the province had to cut off applications because there wasn't enough money to go around. On Monday the government announced a further $1.3 million for the program.

It was welcome news for Mary Ellen Morrison of Charlottetown. Morrison is on a disability income, bringing in about $11,000 a year. It's enough to put food on the table, but home renovations are impossible.

"What I need done you'd need to have $1,000 right in your hand, and I just don't have it," she said.

Marcia Carroll, executive director of the P.E.I. Council for People with Disabilities, said the program helps people with disabilities remain a part of the community.

"With the support of this program people can make those changes, stay in their home, and still have a sense of belonging," said Carroll.

The program is divided into three streams, providing forgivable loans with maximum values between $6,000 and $16,000. The province will accept applications from June 16 to 20. They will be approved based on need and then on a first-come, first-served basis until the new funding runs out.