A new program from the city of St. Augustine aims to help with costly repairs for homeowners in the West City area.
Modeled after the Fix-It Up program in the city’s Lincolnville neighborhood, the new Revive & Restore Residential Repair Grant Program offers grants for homeowners in another underserved part of St. Augustine — West City.
Grants of up to $25,000 are available to help pay for essential home repairs like fixing up plumbing, aging roofs and storm damage.
West City’s revitalization
Situated just west of St. Augustine’s popular downtown, the West City neighborhood has historic ties to the area’s Black community. West City has long been left out of the financial investment that parts of town with heavier tourist traffic have received.
The new grant program is part of the city’s effort to revitalize the West City area through the recently-created West City Community Redevelopment Agency. The Revive & Restore program offers grant money for home improvement projects that might otherwise drive local homeowners out of their properties.
St. Augustine’s director of community services, Jaime Perkins, hopes the program will be as successful as its Lincolnville counterpart, which has provided $1.1 million in grants to more than 50 homeowners since its launch in 2015.
“The West City CRA Revive and Restore program is about investing in the neighborhood and strengthening community infrastructure in a way that promotes inclusive, long-term resident stabilization throughout the revitalization process,” Perkins says.
To be eligible for the program, applicants must be able to demonstrate that they qualify as “low-income” — taking home less than $57,400 for a single-person household, with levels scaling by household size. In addition, while the city does not require that homeowners match funds provided by the grant, property owners who receive an award larger than $10,000 must agree to placing a 10-year lien on their home.
For more information, or to determine whether you qualify for a Revive & Restore grant, click here to visit the city’s website.







