COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus City Council is making sure people can stay in their homes.

Council approved spending $1 million to help pay for home repairs that, if ignored, could lead to someone losing their home, covering the costs of critical home repairs such as for windows, doors, and roofs.

Council said it’s a part of the housing strategy for the city.

“Part of city council strategy really lies around investing, preserving, and making sure that our housing units are inclusive of all individuals in the city of Columbus,” Councilmember Shayla Favor said.

Part of that includes making sure people can safely stay in their homes. In Columbus, there are certain regulations that every home must follow, and if it doesn’t meet those standards, homeowners could be in trouble.

“They can find themselves being cited by code enforcement or a building and zoning and services department,” Favor said. “We don’t want to see our residents lose their home because they are unable to make those critical repairs.”

The critical repair program includes things like door repairs all the way up to emergency situations such as no heat.

“We understand how important and, not to use this term a little too frequently, but we know how critical it is to have a critical home repair program in the city of Columbus,” Favor said.

It’s open to households who earn up to 80% of the area median income, which is $55,550 for one person and $79,350 for four people.

“How do we preserve what is already affordable in our community, preserve the housing units that are already in the city of Columbus, and we talk a lot about if we can’t get new shovels in the ground immediately, we’ve got to make sure we’re doing everything that we can to preserve what’s already in our community,” Favor said.

There is a change in this program. It used to be on a first-come, first-served basis, but after hearing feedback, the program is now prioritizing those people who are in danger of facing a code violation first.