Three Portagers recently had their yards landscaped without paying a penny from their pockets after winning a contest from the Portage Community Revitalization Corporation for $1,000 grants. Kayla Flett shares what it's like to be one of the recipients.

"I felt like good things are finally happening. That's how I felt. We applied for it and I heard about it.  It was 10:00 a.m. on the day it was due. I heard it on the radio, actually, and thought I'm going to do it. So I packed up my daughter and away we went. We went to Walmart and got our pictures developed, and the timeline... I  think we had about an hour to hand it in. We handed it in, and three or four weeks later we got the letter in the mail."

Flett home

Savanna Scarrett also won, and says it's something they always wanted to do, but didn't know how.

"They put all the stone here in the front, and added the shrubberies because it was just all grass. Actually a friend of mine sent me the link. I hadn't heard about it. She just said all you had to do was take some pictures of the front, and send a property tax evaluation, because your house couldn't be over $200,000."

Scarrett home

The third award went to Joshua Meier and describes the fortunate timing.

"Pretty awesome, actually. I'm a recent homeowner. My dad and I just kind of spent some time fixing up the yard, putting some fertilizer down, grass seed down, just trying to make it look nice again. And then this grant came along. I applied thinking I'd give it a shot. Anything can help, right?  And, lo and behold, I received the letter saying I was one of the recipients. So, it was just that little extra bonus."

Meier home