Our Housing Development Office provides a variety of programs to improve the health, energy efficiency, affordability, and stability of the housing stock in Erie County.
Housing Programs
Every family deserves a safe, healthy house that they can truly call home. Thrive at Home is a home repair program provided through CAO of WNY, delivering critical housing services to homeowners in the following neighborhoods: Fruit Belt | Masten Park | Hamlin Park | Delavan-Grider | MLK Park | Broadway-Fillmore | Pratt Willert
Erie County residents who have a documented loss of income relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and have fallen behind on their rent or mortgage (funds limited to $1,000), as a result, are eligible to apply.
Finding affordable housing can be extremely difficult. Our rental search assistance program helps empower individuals to search for housing online, apply for affordable housing and voucher programs waitlists. For help with an affordable rental search please call our office or email swatson@caowny.org.
Masten Home Repair Program
Our Masten Home Repair Program provides funding to low and moderate-income households located in the Masten District to make necessary health, safety, and efficiency repairs to their homes. Grants for this program are based on funding availability. Please call to see if grant funds are available and for additional eligibility requirements.
Drew Canfield
Director of Housing Development
Phone: (716) 881-6543
Email: dcanfield@caowny.org
Address: 564 Dodge Street, Building #400,
Buffalo NY 14208
The health and safety of our families start with the health of our home. We strive to remove home health hazards–such as lead, asbestos, mold, and others–and eliminate mobility challenges for senior or disabled residents.
Energy Efficency
Older homes, like those that are iconic in our region, are more likely to need weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades. These conditions can leave families with high energy bills as they attempt to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We strive to leverage weatherization of homes to reduce energy burdens that strain family finances and to reduce the overall carbon footprint of our region.
Affordability
Finding quality, affordable housing is a challenge for families throughout Western New York. We strive to expand housing affordability through the development of high quality, affordable housing, such as St. Martin Village that CAO constructed in 2011.
Stability
Many families throughout Western New York struggle to maintain their housing stability because of the myriad financial pressures placed on households today. We strive to assist families in finding housing stability through emergency rental assistance, foreclosure prevention, and case management services.
Seeking Qualified Contractors
CAO Housing Development completes over 36 home repair projects per year and is always seeking new contractors to include in our calls for bids. Please call our office at 716.881.6543 if you are a contractor interested in getting added to our contractor list.
