ROANOKE, Va. – 10 News is now less than one month away from dedicating this year’s “Home for Good,” a project happening in partnership with Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley, generous community sponsors, and volunteers.
In mid-October, the Ali family will buy this year’s home and achieve their dream of homeownership, a move that is just one part of a bigger effort to invest in Southeast Roanoke.
“Just to see that amount of effort coming into a place like Southeast that does have a community in need but also a community of people that really can come together and build each other up, I think that’s awesome,” said Eliza Kraus, who lives in Southeast with her husband Ryan and their dog.
Eliza and Ryan said they like to enjoy all of the amenities Southeast offers, from the art throughout the neighborhood, to easy access to the Greenways.
“Where we live in Southeast we can hop right on it over here and take a walk, ride a bike, take our dog for a walk,” Ryan said.
Eliza said the neighbors of Southeast Roanoke make the area special.
“There’s just a lot to offer each other and I think that seeing a community come together is really important,” Eliza said.
Southeast is now at the heart of the city of Roanoke’s community development work, with a focus on the area’s Belmont-Fallon neighborhoods. That means the city will likely invest more than $1 million each year for the next five years for housing construction, renovations, and economic development in Southeast in partnership with community organizations, including Habitat for Humanity.
“There’s a lot of different community partners, there’s a lot of different neighbors and when we’ve come into some of these boarded and vacant homes for the renovations, they’ve been so excited because some of these homes have been boarded and vacant for years,” said Brian Clark, Habitat Construction Director.
The hope is that excitement builds into energy to create more business opportunities, more community support, and more ways to love Southeast.
“If you get one more family on each project that invests their time and efforts into Southeast it could be very transformative,” Ryan said.
This year’s “Home for Good” will be dedicated in mid-October.
Find more stories on “Home for Good” projects here.