Morningside Commons to add 12 homes during Blitz Build event

Habitat Humanity Detroit and its partners are teaming up to build 12 new homes in the Morningside Commons community for Blitz Build 2006. Each day this week, 250-300 volunteers will converge on the 4100 block of Maryland Street to begin construction of the homes, six of which will be two-story and six of which will be ranch-style.

The homes, which will be completed by the end of the year will, “transform this one block of Maryland, which hasn’t seen investment in years,” says Habitat executive director Robert Dewaelsche. Habitat is also working with partner U-SNAP-BAC to “rehab houses that can be salvaged and then work to remove … the homes that cannot be saved.” U-SNAP-BAC also has plans to construct bungalows in the immediate area.

The Blitz Build kicks off a long-term process entitled Vision 2020 that aims to eliminate poverty and blight in the Morningside Commons area. Habitat and U-SNAP-BAC along with Christ United Methodist Church and Morningside Community Organization plan to address issues of unemployment, lack of training and education and access to transportation and health care over the next several years.

The five-day Blitz Build concludes with an on-site ceremony on Friday, Sept. 15 at 3 p.m.

Source: Rob Dewaelsche, Habitat for Humanity Detroit