  Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 436 Registered: 09-2004 |
Gratiot Woods reaps benefits of community activism BY MARGARITA BAUZA • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • March 9, 2008 A small but feisty community on the city's east side is making a slow but certain comeback, thanks to the love and attention of dedicated residents and community activists. Advertisement The Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance has infused the Gratiot Woods community with a shot of federal and state grant money -- about $17 million -- since 1999, resulting in the revitalization of area housing and commerce. The alliance, a coalition of 10 area Catholic churches spearheading the effort, is beginning the second phase of a plan that eventually will include 90 new homes in a 20-block area whose northern borders are Gratiot Avenue and I-94. The phase currently under way includes 30 new and refurbished homes and townhouses, a four-unit, loft-style condo development with two commercial spaces and a 62-unit cooperatively run senior housing development. One of the commercial spaces will house a Capuchin Friars Bakery, which is to open in May. "It's been a long road, but we've made significant visible impact on the physical fabric of the neighborhood," said Christopher Bray, the alliance's director of housing and development. "More importantly, residents are taking more pride in the neighborhood and finding it to be a desirable place to live," Bray said. The alliance owns 140 lots in the area, including a recently renovated building on Gratiot that houses its offices and commercial space leased to a Head Start program and Cristo Rey High School's administrative offices. It also has two apartments upstairs now available for rent. The second phase of housing involves the construction and refurbishing of 20 single-family homes and 10 townhouses ranging in price from $135,000 to $149,000. They vary from three to four bedrooms, 1,350 to 1,600 square feet, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 baths, and have two-car garages. Construction on these homes is scheduled to begin in April and is expected to be completed on the first few units in August. Subsidized down payment The new houses are a step up from the first phase of housing, which sold for $80,000 a unit and required a 1% down payment. That phase consisted of 16 new homes and 16 rehabbed homes. Both phases are heavily subsidized. The first phase's subsidy was built into the price of the home. In the project's second phase, the subsidy will come in the form of a down payment of up to $30,000. Grants for building have come from a variety of sources, but mostly the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funneled through state, county and city programs and nonprofit groups. They are meant to subsidize the development of projects in areas where market values have been depressed over the years, Bray said. "The idea is to use this funding to make the project financially viable, provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, and building up property values so that normal market forces can reestablish themselves," Bray said. The loft-style condos are two-bedroom and 1 1/2 -bath units that will sell for $159,000. Buyers also qualify for the $30,000 down payment. The alliance and a cooperative housing nonprofit called CSI Support & Development Services rents the apartments to seniors and people with disabilities. They pay 30% of their monthly income. Those earning $1,000 a month, for instance, would pay $300 a month. From renting to owning Carmen Houston was the first to buy a new alliance home four years ago. She keeps her home impeccably decorated and named her three bedrooms: the Sunshine Room, the Wicker Room and African Safari. "I feel uplifted when I come here," said the 44-year-old employee of the 36th District Court whose dream it was to become a homeowner before she turned 40. Two years later, Debra Marshall and her daughter joined her as neighbors. "I had been looking for a place for myself and my daughter and someone told me about the pastoral alliance," said Marshall. "Six months later, we were able to get in. It's beautiful. It's different than renting, and it's brand new." Sister Jolene Van Handel, a longtime resident and pastoral minister at Nativity of Our Lord parish, a Catholic church that anchors the neighborhood, said that in a short amount of time the alliance has done what residents struggled with for years. "We didn't know anything about community organizing," she said. "We didn't have anyone who knew how to write grants. We put in a lot of hard work and muscle. We had flower sales so people could beautify their yards, but people don't notice that like they notice new housing. That's what makes a difference." It is clear that the alliance's work has opened the doors for private investors to participate in the revitalization. The alliance spent $5,000 several years ago boarding up an abandoned building that had been identified by residents as a community nuisance and home to illegal dumping and drug activity. The building was sold in 2005 to a private developer who invested $4 million and returned it to its original condition. The place, now called Carley Square, has 35 units of affordable housing. "So much has happened since the alliance moved into the area," said Van Handel. "They got the ball rolling. The whole community has been much safer." Contact MARGARITA BAUZA at 313-222-6823 or mbauza@freepress.com. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=2008803090519 | ||
Detx Member Username: Detx Post Number: 113 Registered: 07-2007 |
Great to see the Catholic Church being so active, esp. when so many Catholic schools and churches have had to shut down in Detroit. | ||
Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster Post Number: 140 Registered: 03-2005 |
We have so many churches in the city of Detroit - just walk down Puritan or Van Dyke, or any other commercial thoroughfare. Now what if all of those churches on a particular road, or of a particular denomination would form alliances, then seek private, state, and federal funds, and fix up old housing and commercial buildings, and build new housing - the city would be a lot more better off. All of these little storefront churches and the megachurches - do they interact? Can they work together to impact the city more significantly and to improve the quality of life here? I don't know. |
