ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Ill. – Norris Wiggins’ home was hit hard by April storms in the Metro East.

“When I came out, I looked over to my neighbor’s [house], and I saw a roof over there, but I didn’t know, it came off my house,” he said. 

Water damage then caused part of his ceiling to collapse. Almost five months later, the damage still has not been fixed.

Earlier this summer, Wiggins applied for an emergency repairs grant through Saint Clair County. But those grants are paid for with federal money from HUD and that funding has run out until next month. Even then, it is not certain that Wiggins will be approved for a grant. 

“There’s a waitlist and then there’s a waitlist on the contractors to actually do the work. When an emergency happens like that storm, it takes quite some time and a lot of bit of manpower,” Illinois State Rep. Kevin Schmidt (R-Belleville) said. 

Rep. Schmidt says there is a huge need for these programs in his district. 

“There are grants and programs available. As far as I know, no one from that community has applied. They can go through our office and we can help them with that process,” he said. 

There is another program his office pointed us to that runs through the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA). That program does not fund homeowners directly. The funds go to partner organizations who then help get it to the homeowners.

When the FOX Files tried to find a partner organization that services St. Clair County, we learned there was not one. 

IHDA says it is currently taking applications from organizations for the new fiscal year but no organizations that serve St. Clair County applied the previous year. And the longer Wiggins waits, the more damage can be done. 

“It starts raining, water is still coming into my living room. Water is still coming into my porch,” he said. 

FOX 2 has been is in touch with HUD and Wiggins’ U.S. Congresswoman to see if there are other resources for him.