Mayor Jared Kraham, along with representatives from the nonprofit organization Home HeadQuarters, held a press conference today to announce a new state program aimed at helping homeowners improve flood resiliency, energy efficiency, and other home issues.

The program will provide homeowners with up to $50,000 for home upgrades, with half of the amount available as a low-interest loan. The funding can be used for a range of improvements, including the installation of new hot water tanks, energy-efficient appliances, high-performance windows, and other updates that ensure homes are code-compliant.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal is offering a total of $17 million in loans to support homeowners across the state.

"Flooding affects every neighborhood," said Mayor Kraham. "People often think about the 2006 and 2011 river flooding that happened.  It was devastating, no doubt. But every year, different pockets of neighborhoods in the city of Binghamton are prone to flash flooding. There's really strong summer storms that affect neighborhoods and also you have sometimes flooding in the wintertime with the snowmelt. And these things can be devastating."

For more information, visit https://www.homehq.org/nys-resilient-retrofits.