The city of Binghamton is working to help low-income and elderly residents with their home repairs. Officials received a grant to aid the city's Housing Repair Program. Our Melissa Kakareka tells us why the funds are so important to the city.

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- The city of Binghamton's Housing Repair Program is receiving a boost in funding.

"We're very proud that this money is coming forward so we can do more work in this area," said Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan.

City officials received a $600,000 grant from the state's Affordable Housing Corporation to aid the program Wednesday.

The money will help assist low-income and elderly homeowners with repair work that corrects code violations and other health and safety repairs.

"A lot of the houses in the city are pretty old and this helps those homeowners who are eligible to make upgrades and improve the housing stock in general in the city," said Ryan.

The program is supported by federal funds the city receives through the HOME program which has experienced cuts over the past few years. The grant will allow the city to make up for the loss.

"We've had successive cuts to our HOME program over the years, and now another 40 percent cut this year. So obviously these funds come at a crucial time," said Ryan.

There are currently 80 projects signed up for the program. The city will be able to complete about 30 more projects than expected because of the grant