BANGOR — USDA Rural Development State Director Virginia Manuel has announced that Community Concepts, Inc. has been selected to receive a Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Grant in the amount of $1,010,000 million to help area families build their own homes.

The new Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant will provide assistance for an additional 40 homes to eligible families in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, Kennebec and Oxford counties. Upon completion of the current building season, approximately 255 families will have been assisted in homeownership to build their own homes with technical assistance provided by USDA Rural Development and Community Concepts since 1991.

Community Concepts recruits, trains and supervises small groups of families as they build single-family homes in a “homebuilders association.” Together, they provide a minimum of 65 percent of the total building labor needed to complete the homes. The months spent building their homes can save families as much as $20,000 and there's never a payment to make during construction.

For more information on how to become a homeowner through the Self Help Program, contact Sandy Albert, Community Concepts associate director of housing and energy, at 739-6560.