Neighborhood Revitalization

I went to lunch last Tuesday, with my 22 year old twin sons.  While I stepped away to the restroom, the check arrived, and to my pleasant surprise, my son Micah picked up the check! My take-away on this is that things do change in significant ways over time.  I’ve bought Micah many meals over the years and to have him pay for one signifies a major change that is a generation long in coming.

The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative that Habitat has organized in SE Raleigh’s Long Acres and Apollo Heights neighborhoods is making great progress.  A resident-led coalition of over 20 organizations and city departments is meeting regularly to address the needs of the neighborhoods.  Habitat is getting ready to break ground on the first of nine new homes thanks to a City of Raleigh Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant.  There is a sense of positive change in the air.

Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) seeks to apply a holistic, asset-based redevelopment approach for challenged neighborhoods.  In Wake County, we are pleased to be one of 55 local Habitat efforts across the U.S. selected to be in the initial working group to pioneer this new strategy.