Linn supervisors approve $5,000 for housing rehab

Linn County will continue to help fund the Neighborhood Revitalization Service's efforts to rehabilitate Cedar Rapids housing.

County supervisors voted Wednesday morning to allocate $5,000 to NRS from the county's economic development fund. The non-profit received $10,000 from the county in April; Wednesday's grant comes from the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

NRS is finishing work on its second rehab project, at 1548 Sixth Ave. SE. The group uses volunteer labor and contractors for the work, then plans to use the proceeds from the home's sale to at least partially fund the purchase of its next project, said Jerry McGrane, NRS founder and a former Cedar Rapids City Council member.

"We're looking for the third, but the prices went up after Affordable Housing bought all those houses," said McGrane. He referred to the

Affordable Housing Network's purchase of more than two dozen homes under its Total-Child Wellington Heights Initiative.