PONTIAC, Mich. – An organization is helping 36 homeowners in Pontiac get home repairs and keep them looking nice.
Habitat for Humanity has the goal of helping individuals and families gain access to affordable housing. They want to help them keep those houses looking nice on the inside and outside.
“I’ve been smiling since these guys showed up,” homeowner Lorenzo Moore said.
Moore is getting some crucial work done on the outside of his home thanks to volunteers from Habitat from Humanity. It’s part of their Rock the Block event.
Habitat for Humanity COO said it’s for homeowners who need help. The homeowners pay a discounted price for light exterior home repairs.
“They’re not homeowners where they have the ability to reach outside of their tight budgets to make the repairs on their own without a little help from someone else,” COO Scott Milliken said.
For Moore, it was a stroke in 2018 that stopped him from keeping up with the projects.
“I can’t reach up and scrape things or climb up ladders and you know, everything I do is slow and I’m kind of scared. Balance isn’t good,” Moore said.
The event is focusing on Ferry Farms and Unity Park neighborhoods in Pontiac. Habitat for Humanity board member Kaino Philips said he is thrilled to see the people in those neighborhoods get help because he grew up there and stayed. He hopes that trend continues.
“That’s something we’ve been fighting so hard with in Pontiac is to go ahead and maintain home ownership,” Phillips said. “We have a lot of renters in the city. So we’re trying to go ahead and push that dynamic back and bring people and make them want to be homeowners.”
As for Moore, he’s getting better day by day but for now he’s grateful for the help -- which he said he will eventually pay forward.
Habitat for Humanity will be holding two more Rock the Block events next month in the Southfield area.
Click here to learn more about Rock the Block events.
Read: More community coverage