Music blared from a van's speakers, children bounced in an inflatable moonwalk and smoke poured from a huge grill cooking hot dogs and hamburgers at what seemed to be a typical block party.
But at Saturday's block party in North East Park, Gainesville residents who met low-income qualifications applied for down payment assistance, mortgage foreclosure intervention, housing rehabilitation, housing reconstruction, credit repair and community development block grants.
More than 200 people visited the park for the Gainesville Housing and Community Development Division's biannual event.
Assistant city manager Fred Murry, said the goal of the event was to let people know that it is possible to purchase or maintain a home despite financial problems.
"We want them to know all the ways the city can help them," Murry said. "That's what it's all about."
After getting food and sodas, visitors stopped at shaded tables to fill out applications while their children played in the bounce house and took rides around the park on a trolley.
According to Housing and Community Development Division supervisor Teresa Osoba, HCDD receives about as many applications at each block party as it does in an average month.
On Saturday, the group handed applications out to more than 100 people.
"We use the party to bring our office to the community," she said. "People may be working Monday through Friday and can't make it during office hours."
Osoba said that people were lined up at 9 a.m., an hour before the event started, waiting to fill out applications and get information about the city's assistance programs.
Gainesville resident Suzette Riggins said the event was helpful for her and her family because it was held on the weekend and so close to home.
Riggins, who applied for housing rehabilitation to fix her leaky roof, said that the atmosphere of the party was inviting and open, which made it easy to focus less on her money problems and just enjoy herself.
"Everyone was so friendly," she said. "They gave me a lot of information and really helped me out."
