The City Odessa  is offering free lawn mowing assistance to elderly and disabled residents.

The program, was approved by City Council earlier this year with a budget of about $20,000. through the community development  block grant program which is funding Odessa gets annually from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Community Development  Department in charge of the project recently hired local business Focus on Yards to start providing lawn services within the next week.

“As we got more aggressive with our code enforcement part of it, and we were taking people to court when they didn’t clean their yards, that’s when we discovered there were so many that needed the service.”  said Merita Sandoval, Director of the Department.

Qualified low income households could receive up to seven lawn mowings through October, depending on lot size and length of grass.

Eligibility requirements include: home ownership, reside within the City limits, resident must be 65 years old or disabled, resident must maintain the yard by keeping the lawn clean of debris and trash.

The program aims to improve livability and appearance of homes in Odessa.

“There are a number of elderly people or disabled  people in our community who do not have the funds or the ability to get their yards mowed or cleaned up.” said Sandoval.

Sandoval hopes this developing program will eventually be volunteer driven.

Funds are limited for this program and interested residents are encouraged to contact Community Development by visiting 119 West Fourth Street, Suite 104 or calling 432-335-4820.