From the Daily News:About three dozen vacant and blighted properties in southeast Queens will soon be part of a neighborhood makeover.
Habitat for Humanity New York City plans to gut and rehab 38 of the city’s empty eyesores with the help of local volunteers — and sell them to low-income families who will help rebuild them.
Thirty-four of the properties are in southeast Queens — an area still struggling to recover from the recent foreclosure crisis.
“This is a hand up, not a hand out,” said the group’s CEO Neil Hetherington. “[The families] have gone from a situation of despair to one of hope.”
Thirteen homeowners are expected to be in their new residences — some of which have been vacant for more than a decade — by the end of the year. The rest of the houses are slated to be finished by late next year.
4 comments:
I am sure this article/posting will get some negative comments, but I am all for this. My brother did some work for Habitat for Humanities.
It is better to have these home fixed up (a majority in the Jamaica area)as opposed to sitting their empty deteriorating become garbage dumps, eyesores and places for crack addict to hang out.
Let's face it something needs to be done, but unfortunately the powers to be are doing very little and communities suffer from this.
No negative comment here Joe! Habitat continues to shine.
The city needs more "affordable housing" and in my experience, better to give it to folks as homeowners so please do more in NYC, Habitat!
When I was laid off a few years ago I volunteered my time with Habitat. The project I was assigned to was in Brooklyn almost at the border of East New York. I laid hardwood floors and painted numerous doorways and window sills. The crew and other volunteers were welcoming and we had a good camaraderie. Most importantly it kept my mind off wondering when I was going to hear back from this or that job interview plus gave me flexibility if I needed to be away. It was a great experience, and we built some nice condos that I would have been proud to call home myself. I can't recommend habitat enough for anyone looking for meaningful volunteer work!
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