|
Renovation project a “convincing”
success
Wilfred (“Willie”) Woffenbarger remembers the first time he
heard about Rebuilding Together Indy, a million-dollar
renovation project coming to St. Clair Place, his Near Eastside
neighborhood. It was March 2007. “There was a man in front of my
house with a camera taking pictures,” Woffenbarger remembers. “I
asked him what he was doing,” Woffenbarger says. “He said ‘I see
your house needs painted’ and this that and the other. I told
him he didn’t have to tell me that.” Actually a representative
from Rebuilding Together Indy, the man introduced himself and
told Willie that he could get all the work his home needed at no
cost. “I’m the biggest non-believer in the world,” Willie says.
“And it sounded too good to be true.”
But by April 2008 it was coming true. The Woffenbargers were
among 30 families in the St. Clair Place neighborhood to be a
part of a $1 million home “makeover” project made possible
through a partnership between the Great Indy Neighborhoods
Initiatives (GINI) and Rebuilding Together Indy.
The local affiliate of a nationwide program, Rebuilding
Together Indy’s mission is to preserve communities by
revitalizing houses for low-income homeowners, especially the
elderly, disabled, and families with children. It does this by
soliciting applications from eligible homeowners, using
contractors to make complex renovations, and then completing the
makeover project with a one-day blitz led by volunteers, called
“Game Day.” Great Indy Neighborhoods is an initiative that
supports the comprehensive transformation of local neighborhoods
through collaborative development efforts that encompass the
physical spaces, human services, and relationships in the places
people live, work, raise families, and participate in their
community.
In February 2007, Rebuilding Together Indy decided to make a
five-year commitment to focus their efforts on GINI
neighborhoods. The neighborhood selection was based on many
factors including overall need, its ability to find eligible
homeowners, and its ability to capitalize on the rebuilding
effort with other partners and concurrent programs. Several
neighborhoods applied to be the first to work with Rebuilding
Together Indy; the Near Eastside was successful in its bid.
An event in St. Clair Place underscored just how badly the
neighborhood needed help. On June 1st, 2006, two gunmen entered
a home on Hamilton Street, another of St. Clair Place’s
beleaguered streets. Believing they would find a safe containing
money and cocaine, the men instead found only a family of seven
inside. After a brief skirmish, the would-be robbers murdered
the entire family, making it one of the most brutal crimes in
the city’s history. It was just one block over from the
Woffenbargers’ Tecumseh Street home.
The neighborhood was also expecting some investment that the
makeover project could build upon. In late May 2007,
then-Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson announced $10 million in
infrastructure improvements featuring new sidewalks, curbs,
streets and sewers all slated for the Near Eastside. In 2007 the
Near Eastside – with the help of GINI – also developed a
quality-of-life plan to help themselves get organized and
revitalize their community. Part of the Near Eastside plan came
to include the $1 million St. Clair Place home makeover project.
According to Near Eastside GINI coordinator, Joe Bowling, there
was more to the decision than simply renovating homes.
“We wanted to start off doing something for our most
vulnerable neighbors,” he says. The $10 million infrastructure
improvement project was meant to restore the entire Near
Eastside and attract newcomers into the area to help stimulate
new growth. “We thought we ought to take care of the longtime
residents first,” Bowling says. Community leaders also wanted to
help St. Clair Place residents recover from the Hamilton Street
tragedy.
Ruth Shaw, community liaison for the Near Eastside’s John H.
Boner Community Center, was appointed project coordinator. Shaw
has lived in the area for the past 34 years, and knows its
challenges as well. The first step was getting a list of
homeowners in the area so they could be told about the makeover
project, and what it could do for them. The second step was
getting them to believe it wasn’t too good to be true.
Along with convincing candidates that the offer was legitimate,
Shaw had to help candidates track down deeds and missing
mortgage paperwork, and help them complete the application.
“Some because they couldn’t read or write,” she says. By
November 2007, 33 applications had been completed and accepted.
Once accepted, the homes were reviewed to determine the repairs
needed. Ruby Grisby, Richard Whyde and the Woffenbargers were
included in the list. Now a retired nurse, Grisby moved to St.
Clair Place in 1982, and bought her home in 1984. She lives
across the street from the Woffenbargers. Retired since 2005,
Whyde lives a few blocks away in a 98-year old home.
Grisby was originally scheduled to receive a new furnace and
sink, but also received new front steps, a renovated bathroom
and fresh paint, too. Whyde was scheduled to receive new carpet,
landscaping, kitchen cabinets, sinks and stove, plumbing and
downspouts. Active in his neighborhood crime watch, Whyde’s home
would also receive a motion light for security. The
Woffenbargers received repairs on four windows, the shower,
kitchen floor and light fixtures.
Heavy work began in early April and “Game Day” was scheduled
for Saturday, April 25th. Led by 850 volunteers, it included 100
skilled craftspeople, as well as other representatives from
local businesses and neighborhoods. “With that many people
involved it didn’t take too long to get everything done,” says
Shaw. A total of 26 homes received indoor renovations and
improvements; five more received significant landscaping.
Material costs for individual homes were as high as $30,000,
Shaw says. “I told them it would be cheaper to build me a new
home,” says Woffenbarger.
“It was like they were sent from God,” says Ruby Grisby.
Whyde, who lives alone, could scarcely believe all the work that
was being done to his home. At first he didn’t believe it needed
it. “I was satisfied with my old carpet – until they put new
carpet on the stairs,” he says. He was especially excited to
repairs to his front porch. “In the summertime I live on the
porch,” Whyde says.
Ruby Woffenbarger can barely contain her emotions about the
repairs or the project. She suffered a stroke a few years ago,
and her renovated bathroom will make it easier for her to use.
But what the project represents moves her even more. The couple
will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary in June 2008.
“It’s the best anniversary present you could ask for,” Ruby
says.
The makeover project reminds her of how the neighborhood used
to be when it was at its best, and neighbors helped one and
other. “I didn’t know there were people like this anymore,” she
says. “I may not live to see it, but they’re trying to make it
like it used to be.”
Willie Woffenbarger doesn’t need any more convincing, either.
“When they first came around we were the biggest nonbelievers in
the world,” says Willie. “I’m a believer now.”
|
