STEP Inc.'s Homes in Need Flood-Recovery Program focused on getting people back into their homes after the flood, Rachelle Abbott, director of planning, said.
The agency combined contributions from the community, including $12,000 from the Lycoming County United Way, and its Youth Build program, which takes eight people 18 to 24 who are considered to be at-risk and teaches them construction work.
For the past year, the youths have focused on helping to restore flood-damaged homes.
Homes in Need has been in Lycoming County since 2005, primarily for low-income people.
"With the flood that came, we transformed the model," Abbott said. "We made it specific for flood homes."
Of the 56 applications STEP received, 22 homes have been completed. Work will continue until the end of September, Abbott said.
After September, its assistance ends. While additional funding is possible, Abbott said the organization helped "pretty much" everyone on its list.
If more people need help, she said it is possible to help with the organization's regular rehabilitation program that is not specific for flood. It has money for handicap accessibility and housing rehabilitation in general.
STEP worked with FEMA to make sure there was no duplication of services.
There were some homes damaged that had never been largely affected by a flood before so the owners did not have insurance.
Of those who were not helped, some decided to sell their homes, some moved away, some wanted to do the work themselves and others did not want assistance.
Everyone who applied and who was eligible for the help received it, she said.
What people needed showed the vast devastation of the flood. Some houses needed to be gutted completely while others needed furnaces and hot water tanks.
STEP also provided Affordable Housing Gap Assistance funding for people who lived in apartments or temporary housing but who still had a mortgage on their flooded homes.
In all, 18 families received rental assistance. Some people who worked with the housing rehabilitation also were helped through the gap assistance.
"They moved off gap and went back to their home," Abbott said. "It was a neat interface."
