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From YouTube: This Week in Ames
Description
Learn about a new initiative with today's guest, Housing Coordinator, Vanessa Baker-Latimer.
A
B
Been
in
housing
with
the
city
of
Ames
for
just
over
30,
some
years,
administering
all
of
the
city's
state,
federal
programs
or
just
local
initiatives
in
the
housing
arena.
Our
latest
of
program
is
our
community
development
block
grant
program
which
we
get
an
entitlement
from
the
federal
government
department
of
housing
and
urban
development
every
year
to
do
a
variety
of
programs
in
the
city
of
Ames
and.
A
B
A
B
A
B
It
was
a
program
through
us
Community
Development
recovery
program.
It
was
an
initiative
by
President
Obama.
The
city
receives
about
a
hundred
and
thirty
thousand
dollars,
and
we
set
aside
30,000
of
that
to
do
a
smart
housing
initiative
where
we
had
purchased
a
home,
that
we
went
and
did
energy
upgrades
to
it
and
then
had
it
sold
to
a
first-time
homebuyer
through
a
home
buyer
assistance
program
and
did
our
first
ribbon-cutting
under
that
particular
project
was
so
excited
about
having
a
smart
housing
initiative
and.
A
B
We,
of
course,
had
an
energy
audit
done,
which
is
a
free
service
by
our
electric
department.
So
we
wanted
to
take
advantage
of
that
and
they
gave
us
a
list
of
things
that
we
could
do
to
really
make
the
house
more
energy-efficient
anywhere
from
insulating
the
Attic.
We
added
new
storm
windows
and
doors.
We
also
insulated
the
crawlspace
in
the
basements
and
in
the
garage.
We
also
did
some
other
energy
upgrades
and
far
as
heating
and
electric,
and
so
was
just
taking
those
initiatives
from
that
energy
audit
and
making
those
improvements
to
the
home.
B
Because
one
of
the
things
that
we
wanted
to
help
when
we
do
our
first
time.
Homebuyer
program
is
that
for
the
first
several
years
that
the
homebuyers
won't
have
to
worry
about
doing
those
type
of
energy
features
to
their
home,
be
able
to
save
energy
and
be
able
to
afford
just
adjusting
to
home
ownership
and.
B
It
was
built
in
the
1950s
okay,
so
there
was
a
lot
of
things
that
needed
to
be
done
to
it.
I
mean
we
did
siding
we
put
on
a
new
roof.
We
did
those
kind
of
things
to
it.
Also,
we
did
some
landscaping
to
it
as
well.
We
also
insulated
a
rain
barrel
feature,
so
they
could
get
into
recycling
their
rainwater.
So
those
are
the
kind
of
things
that
we
looked
at
when
we
were
doing
that.
Smart
housing
initiative
and.
A
A
B
A
And
for
your
division,
it
was
a
great
opportunity
to
take
advantage
of
programs
that
are
offered
through
other
departments
the
rain
barrel
through
the
rain
barrel
rebate
program.
The
energy
audit,
as
you
mentioned,
is
free
service
to
any
Ames
electric
services,
customer
yeah
and
and
although
there's
no
landscaping
option,
we
were
able
to
utilize
some
parks
and
recreation
employees
to
help
with
that.
Yes,.
B
A
B
We're
going
to
be
doing
a
homebuyer
workshop
with
the
Iowa
Finance
Authority
and
the
central
Iowa
Board
of
Realtors,
we're
going
to
partner
together
to
bring
a
workshop
to
Ames
look
on
the
website
and
for
other
press
release
will
do
it
we're
looking
at
some
time
at
the
end
of
October,
and
it
would
be
a
free
seminar.
It's
available
to
people
who
are
interested
in
knowing
about
what
own
home
ownership
is
about.
It's
also
an
opportunity
to
know
about
what
products
are
available
and
kind
of
what
process
it
is.
B
If
you
wanted
to
get
into
homeownership.
You
can
also,
if
you
already
own
your
home
and
want
more
information
about
wanting
to
know
about
refinancing
your
home
and
taking
advantage
of
equity
and
so
forth.
So
it's
going
to
kind
of
cover
all
of
those
things.
It's
a
programs
that
are
offered
through
the
Iowa
finance
authority
to
our
local
lending
institution
and
that
realtor's
can
know
about,
and
we
thought
it
would
be
a
good
idea
to
incorporate
it
with
the
city's
program.
Because,
again,
our
initiative
is
to
get
people
into
home
ownership.
B
It's
your--it's,
especially
with
the
interest
rates
going
down
and
fluctuating
opportunity
to
take
advantage
of
equity,
do
more
improvements
to
your
home
and
maybe
do
energy
improvements
to
your
home,
and
so,
hopefully,
with
our
house
hot
smart
series
launch.
We
can
also
educate
people
through
our
cable
channel,
which
does
great
programming
about
features
they
can
do
to
to
make
energy
improvements
to
their
home.
Great.
A
A
You're
interested
in
learning
more
about
sustainability
and
preservation.
The
Historic
Preservation
Commission
has
a
speaker
for
you.
7
p.m.
on
monday
october,
fourteenth
laura
carstens,
a
planner
with
the
city
of
Dubuque
will
be
speaking
on
that
topic.
There's
are
more
information
on
our
website,
you're,
looking
for
a
way
to
get
rid
of
that
yard
waste.
Remember
that
yard
waste
three
days
begin
on
Saturday
October,
19th
they're
at
a
new
site,
again
Tanis
technology,
south
of
Ames,
look
for
more
information
on
that
on
our
website
as
well.