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Centier Bank, Gary, IN

Entry Year: 2017
Entry Category: Affordable Housing
Asset Size: Small
Program Name: Jackson Street of Dreams

Program Summary:

A five-day blitz-build of one new home and renovation of two existing homes on the street where Michael Jackson lived is underway.

The Jackson Street of Dreams Build 2014 concludes Friday on what would have been the singer's 56th birthday. The build project is hosted by The Fuller Center for Housing of Gary, a nonprofit organization and affiliate of The Fuller Center for Housing, whose mission is to end poverty housing.

The Fuller Center for Housing helps lifts up distressed neighborhoods in cities across the country, including Indianapolis and Shreveport, La. The nonprofit rebuilt a Hurricane Katrina-ravaged section of Shreveport and transformed a troubled street in the Fountain Square neighborhood of Indianapolis, building seven new homes and renovating 15 others in a project known as "The Miracle on St. Paul Street." Gary is partnering with The Fuller Center for Housing, a Georgia-based nonprofit that was started by a Habitat for Humanity founder, Millard Fuller, to redevelop a few blocks in a yet-to-be-announced neighborhood. Volunteers will rehabilitate older homes, tear down houses that are beyond repair, and build new ones to provide affordable housing for low-income people, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said.
Families will be able to buy the homes for about $50,000 with a zero interest mortgage that is held by the Fuller Center for Housing of Gary.

Volunteers from throughout the country came to Gary to help with the build. Mike Dennis, of Ohio, said the people of Gary have made the outsiders feel at home.

"They have a desire to see this part of town restore itself," he said.