The Lincoln County Community Development Corp. has received $390,000 from the state to further its work in North Platte.
 
Gov. Pete Ricketts announced on Wednesday the recipients of $10,251,498 in awards from the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund for 2020. LCCDC was among them.
 
“To grow Nebraska, we need a strong supply of quality, affordable homes to welcome working families to our communities,” Ricketts said. “Programs like the Rural Workforce Housing Fund and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund provide Nebraska’s rural communities with more of the tools they need to grow.”
 
Established by the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act of 2017, the RWHF helps communities in counties with populations under 100,000 finance affordable housing to accommodate a growing workforce.
 
LCCDC Executive Director Carol Bodeen said the grant will go toward its demolition and construction program.
 
“This is where we partner with the city of North Platte,” Bodeen said. “They assist us in identifying properties that are candidates for condemnation and demolition.”
 
The LCCDC contacts the property owners and arranges to acquire the property for a fair price.
 
“Basically, we’re purchasing the land and taking on the responsibility to clean it up,” Bodeen said. “It works out well for the property owner because a lot of the time the properties end up the way they are because the property owner can’t afford to fix it up