Habitat for Humanity launches statewide project
Home-building nonprofit will lead construction of 230 homes for the needy.
Towanda Perry, a single mom, is having a new house built in Detroit by Habitat for Humanity.
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WASHINGTON -- Before long, when Ja'Vion Derrick Blackwell's mother tells him to go to his room, he will actually have one.
At 24, Towanda Perry and her 2-year-old son share a room in her parents' Detroit town house. But in just over two weeks, a host of volunteers will converge on a plot of land on 25th Street in Detroit to build her a four-bedroom home.
Perry is one of about 230 Michiganians who will have homes built this month as part of Habitat for Humanity International's 2005 Jimmy Carter Work Project. This will be the first time that the organization will concentrate its activities in one statewide event.
Homes will be built in Benton Harbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and several other cities. All are slated to be completed by June 24.
"This is very significant for Habitat for Humanity and for the nation as a whole," said Tom Jones, vice president of Habitat for Humanity International, a Christian housing ministry dedicated to providing housing for the needy.
Michigan, which has the largest number of Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the world, was chosen in part because of its record of 100 percent participation from the 17 members of the Michigan congressional delegation.
For Janis Grant, a new home of her own couldn't have come at a better time.
The 47-year-old mother of five said her Detroit neighborhood of seven years has become unsafe and empty, with old neighbors moving to safer parts of the city.
"The closer we are getting to it, it's just so exciting," Grant said.
Perry agreed.
"This is my first time ever leaving the nest," she said. "I'm very excited.
"Hopefully we will be in our home by (Ja'Vion's) birthday (next month) and I can just let him run around in all that space."
You can reach Alison Bethel at (202) 906-8202 or abethel@detnews.
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The Detroit News.
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