Some days, Lucille Talbert wakes up in shock.
It takes her a minute to remember where she is. In a house. In her house.
“I think to myself, ‘Wow. We really bought a house. We’re here,’ ” she said.
Talbert is the proud, new owner of a Whitehall home recently renovated by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus.
Her homeownership is a positive change not only for her, but also for the community, said Michelle Castrogiovanni, the organization’s program director. Efforts are under way to bring in good citizens to live in Whitehall, where the home-vacancy rate has doubled in the past decade, from 7.3 percent in 2000 to 14.4 percent in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.
That rate is the highest in the county; Columbus’ is 10.6 percent.
Habitat for Humanity handed Talbert the keys to her home at the end of October. Hers was one of six the organization had bought for renovation using $1.36 million in federal stimulus aid.
The money, part of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s neighborhood-stabilization program, is meant to renovate foreclosed homes and make them available to low-income families.
Whitehall was chosen because it was identified as a “tipping point neighborhood.”
“It’s a neighborhood where there’s a good probability the investments would go a long way to stabilize property values impacted by foreclosure and vacant and abandoned homes,” Castrogiovanni said.
Whitehall is one of the poorest communities in Franklin County, with a median income of $35,400, compared with the county’s average of $49,000, according to the census bureau.
It’s estimated that 21 percent of Whitehall’s residents have incomes below the poverty level; that’s more than Columbus’ 19.9 percent and the county’s 15.9 percent.
When the money was awarded, Whitehall officials called it a “catalyst for residential reinvestment and rebirth.”
The money was meant to refurbish 10 homes, but because of tight deadlines, Habitat was able to buy only six, Castrogiovanni said.
More assistance is on the way, as the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission soon will use federal funds to renovate six homes in Whitehall, said Zach Woodruff, the city’s community-affairs coordinator.
He is meeting with MORPC officials to finalize the agenda.
Meanwhile, as folks such as Talbert move into their new homes in Whitehall, the impact is profound, said E.J. Thomas, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus.
“The neatest part is the philosophy of it being a hand up and not a handout,” he said.
Although the new homeowners do not need to make a down payment or pay interest, they still have a mortgage to repay. They also are required to put in hours to build their home and others’ homes.
Talbert, who works the third shift as a custodial supervisor at Ohio State University, worked more hours on building her house than were required of her.
She said she didn’t mind because it’s “a labor of love.”
She celebrated her first Thanksgiving in the home with her children, nieces and nephews.
When it was time to sit at the table and talk about memories, she took a minute to count her blessings, she said.
“It never crossed my mind, and I never thought this would happen to me,” she said. “This is the year God blessed us with this house.”
qtruong@dispatch.com
No comments:
Post a Comment