CLAIR-MEL — A detective found her ring in a pawn shop. It cost $275 to get it back.
In all her 51 years of living on Cadillac Circle, it was the first time someone broke into Martha Johnson's home. The thief, who turned out to be a new neighbor, stole much of the 71-year-old's birthstone collection of sapphire.
"This isn't the same neighborhood we moved into," Johnson said, sitting outside her house on a recent afternoon.
Up and down the street, homes sit empty. The grass and weeds grow high. Others are occupied by the latest in what seems a revolving door of renters.
"I barely know anyone," Johnson said.
Hillsborough County officials have plans to transform neighborhoods like hers. With a $19.1 million federal grant, the county will buy foreclosed homes in targeted areas in an effort to create more affordable housing.
The first residence in Hillsborough, a neglected white-and-blue trimmed house up the street from Johnson, was purchased last month for $22,000, said Valmarie Turner, director of the Hillsborough Affordable Housing Department.
"Just think about the name, Neighborhood Stabilization Program," Turner said of the project. "That's what we're trying to do. We can impact neighborhoods."
The $4 billion nationwide program, passed by Congress in 2008, allows local governments to use the money to buy, refurbish and resell homes to low-income families. The ultimate goal is to revitalize neighborhoods hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.
With an 18-month time limit to use the funds, housing officials have been on a race to spend the money by next year.
Florida received $541 million, more than any other state in the nation, in part because of the state's high foreclosure rate.
Counties and cities across the bay area received about $75 million. With investors purchasing newer homes, officials here said they have focused on older neighborhoods in the throes of neglect.
Officials plan to target six neighborhoods in Hillsborough. They include the Clair-Mel area, Orient Park, Town 'N Country, Plant City, Gibsonton and the area around the University of South Florida.
As properties are sold, money will cycle back into the program to buy more, Turner explained.
The county will work with approved partners to find families to buy and live in the homes. Applicants must meet income guidelines, and if approved, can be on their way to qualifying for a 0 percent interest loan and help with closing costs.
"That's as long as they live in the property and pay it back," Turner said. "But it is a loan. It is not free."
The house on Cadillac Circle should be on the market in the next couple of months, Turner said. The county closed on another last week, and with more planned this month, renovations are expected to start in the coming weeks.
Pasco County, which received $19.4 million, has 27 homes on the market. Another two homes have buyers living in them already, said George Romagnoli, Pasco's community development manager. The county bought its first house in April.
"It's been a nibble at a time," Romagnoli said. "But we've been very, very busy. A vacant house runs down a whole neighborhood. If we can get more and more filled with homeowners, then they will be inclined to take better care of the homes, watch out for kids in the neighborhood and make the neighborhood better and safer."
Job creation is also a big plus, he said. Out-of-work contractors and their construction crews now regularly bid on renovation projects.
"Those are salaries for people," Romagnoli said. "It's putting them to work."
For some communities, there has been a delay in receiving the grant money to start their programs. Hernando County is one that has yet to receive funds or a contract under the stabilization program.
"We have buyers interested and hope to move forward while the market is still good and the homes are available," said Jean Rags, Hernando's social services director. "We want to be able to get started, and we are hopeful that we will."
In Clair-Mel, Johnson likes the idea of getting a little piece back of the neighborhood she used to know. This is the place where she and her late husband raised their children. It's where her grandchildren and great-grandchildren come to visit.
She thinks the program sounds like a good idea.
"Everyone used to know everyone, and everyone helped everyone," she said. "Cadillac Circle has been a good street to live on. I think it still can be."
Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com, or (813) 661-2454.
To learn more
More than $75 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants have been awarded to Tampa Bay area counties and cities. Here's how the grants break down, and phone numbers to find out more information: For Web addresses, go to links.tampabay.com.
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