How a Salt Lake grant helped transform a meth house into a family’s home

Angelica Melendez plays with her son, Angel Silva, 3, at their new home they share with Angelica’s parents in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019, following a press conference where the Community Development Corporation of Utah kicked off the application period for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding managed by the city. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Salt Lake City kicks off next year’s applications for federal grant money, hoping funds won’t get axed next year

SALT LAKE CITY — It used to be a meth house.

The Jordan Meadows home in west Salt Lake City had seen years of neglect. Its insides were stripped down to the studs to get rid of the drug and radon contamination. The roof was leaking. The garage had been pushed off the foundation. The bathrooms were barely working. What was left of the kitchen was leaking into the basement.

That’s how Mike Akerlow, CEO of Community Development Corporation of Utah, said the home looked just a few months ago when his organization bought it.

But Thursday, as Akerlow spoke in front of the house on Sir Patrick Drive, it looked almost brand-new. The front yard had freshly laid sod. The kitchen and bathrooms had been completely renovated with sparkling countertops, white cabinets and new appliances. The walls had been painted, some knocked down and reconfigured. The carpet had been replaced. The driveway and garage had new concrete.

And the home has some new owners.

Alongside Akerlow stood Mario and Emma Melendez and their children. He told of how Mario Melendez was 14 when he came from Mexico to the U.S. to find work with his brothers. In 1986, he received amnesty and eventually moved to Utah.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Emma Melendez smiles as she walks through her new home in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019, following a press conference where the Community Development Corporation of Utah kicked off the application period for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding managed by the city.

At times living paycheck to paycheck and facing job uncertainty, the Melendezes had lived in rentals for nearly 40 years, Akerlow said.

“But now, after years of hard work and saving, they are the proud owners of this home,” he said. “We are so happy for you and your family.”

Mario and Emma Melendez do not speak very much English, but their 20-year-old daughter, Angelica, told the Deseret News her parents closed on the home last week and were ready to move in Thursday. She said her family likely wouldn’t have been able to buy the home without $13,000 in down payment assistance provided by Community Development Corporation of Utah.

The five-bedroom, three-bath house is big enough for the family’s three children and their 3-year-old grandchild, Angelica Melendez’s son, Angel.

“My mom’s always wanted a house here,” Angelica Melendez said. “My parents have been working really hard for a lot of years. They came here for a better life, and it’s just a good feeling that they finally got their house they’ve been working so hard for.”

Community Development Corporation of Utah buys and renovates about 25 to 30 homes a year to put them back into Salt Lake County’s housing stock for families like the Melendezes, Akerlow said. The down payment assistance program is for those earning below 80% of the area median income — meant to help people become homeowners in a hot housing market, when prices for rentals continue to skyrocket.

“This is why we do what we do,” Akerlow said. “We know that there are so many others out there who are working hard each day to realize the American dream. And we say to you: Don’t give up.”

The Melendezes’ new home and its renovation was made possible by a $75,000 federal Department of Housing and Urban Development funneled through Salt Lake City to Community Development Corporation, aimed at bringing it back into the city’s affordable housing stock.

The house’s price tag was $332,000, according to Akerlow. The median price of Salt Lake City homes was nearly $350,000 in August, according to realtor.com.

“It’s really hard to make these numbers work,” Akerlow said, noting it can be expensive to renovate but important to help homeowners buy, especially in today’s hot housing market.

“Providing homeownership opportunities for people is so important,” Akerlow said. “It helps them create wealth. It helps bring stability into their families’ lives.”

Thursday’s news conference kicked off Salt Lake City’s application period for more U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants managed by the city. The city is now accepting applications from organizations for several grants, including the grant that financed the Melendez family’s home.

They include the Community Development Block Grant to promote development of urban communities by providing affordable housing, suitable living environments and economic opportunities for people with low to moderate income; the Emergency Solutions Grant, which aims to help families regain stability after homelessness; the HOME Investment Partnership Program, aimed at creating affordable housing for low-income households; and a grant aimed at providing housing assistance and supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

“The so-called American dream of homeownership is not easy for most of us and continues to move out of reach for many, but we continue to fight for this for you because we know that homeownership not only brings stability to the lives of people who live inside those four walls of a home, but to an entire neighborhood,” Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said Thursday.

“As our region and nation continue to struggle with the affordable housing crisis, we are here today to show what is possible through partnerships and collaboration,” Biskupski said.

Biskupski highlighted struggles maintaining the city’s federal grant funding, noting that under President Donald Trump’s administration, the federal grants have been on shaky ground each budget cycle.

“Unfortunately for the past few years these funds have been under attack by the federal administration, which has proposed big cuts to these funds, including eliminating the home program entirely for the last four budgets,” Biskupski said. “Thankfully, through careful education by cities and experts, this critical funding source has been largely preserved, but they are on the chopping block again this year.”

Biskupski said she hopes the Melendez home demonstrates how the grants can “change lives.”

Based on estimates from previous years, Salt Lake City anticipates to receive about $3.3 million in Community Development Block Grants, $300,000 in Emergency Solutions Grants, $866,000 in HOME funding, and $475,000 in funds to assist people living with HIV/AIDS, according to city officials.

“We hope our funding stays at the same level, giving us millions of dollars of federal resources to make an impact,” Biskupski said.

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