The Oliver neighborhood in East Baltimore is full of vacant houses and run down buildings. That is why One Green Home at a Time Foundation stepped in to rehab the houses with a green touch.
The nonprofit organization was started only 15 months ago, funded by Bridge Private Lending. Their aim is to purchase and rehabilitation of homes in low- to middle-income neighborhoods with a focus on eco-friendly building techniques. Giving the communities a green face life and springing them back to life. By giving the vacant homes an new green look the hope is to bring people ack into the rundown community and revitalize the area.
“The hope is the entire neighborhood will come back,” said David Borinsky, an attorney, CEO of Bridge Private Lending and founder of One Green Home at a Time Foundation.
The organization cares for more than just the houses. Their effort is to make the entire neighborhood more green by funding public green spaces and community gardens. The also offer on-the-jhob training to the residents to help them learn how to make homes more green and ecofriendly themselves.
Already 23 homes in the area have been fixed up with a green touch, and the neighborhood is starting to come back to life. The homes are made more energy efficient overall and include many little green touches to increase their value. Many people are excited to see how the simple changes to the once run-down homes are bringing more people to the neighborhood. The changes have been so dramatic that many independent contractors have begun stepping in to help with the renovation efforts.
“My focus here is to bring back what people think of when they think of a community. A place that’s safe, a place people can enjoy and a place they can feel proud of,” said Johnson, executive director of the Green Home foundation.
Efforts to green up run down neighborhoods have begun springing up all across America. In New Orleans, the Make It Right Foundation has been building sustainable housing in the devastated 9th Ward. In other areas, communities are banding together to help make their homes and neighborhoods more energy efficient and greener over all.
Photo credit: One Green House at a Time
