By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
HUNTSVILLE — For Suzanna Stewart Jackson, the repairs were more than new siding on an old house. They were proof that someone had not forgotten her.
“This is a blessing,” she said, watching the work unfold around her home. “I can’t believe this is my house. It is so phenomenal.”
Suzanna’s story — shared by the City of Huntsville during National Community Development Week — is one that plays out quietly across Huntsville each year. Born and raised in Huntsville, she returned home from Chicago in 2003 to care for her mother. One of 16 children, a twin, a mother of four, and “Grandmama” to 14, she had built her life around caring for others. But years of deferred repairs had taken their toll. “I’d given up and said, okay, I’m not fixing anything else,” she said. “All the money I spent, I feel like I wasted it.”
The City’s Community Development team changed that. Using federal Community Development Block Grant funding administered through HUD, the City provides home rehabilitation assistance to Huntsville residents who are low-to-moderate income, over 62, or legally disabled and own their homes. The program focuses on roofing, vinyl siding, and HVAC installations — exterior improvements that protect health, safety, and stability.
“We primarily focus on roofing, vinyl siding and HVAC installations,” said James “Jimbo” Adkins, a Community Development planner with the City. Each year, the program completes repairs on between 80 and 100 homes across Huntsville.
The impact is felt well beyond each property. Stabilized homes help stabilize neighborhoods. For seniors on fixed incomes — many of them Black residents in communities that have historically lacked access to capital and home equity — the program is often the difference between staying home and losing it.
Suzanna’s message to others who may not know the help exists: “There’s help out there for us. We can be blessed too.”
Huntsville residents who are 62 or older, legally disabled, and own their home may qualify. For information, contact the City of Huntsville Community Development office at huntsvilleal.gov.