Quality Living in the Hillside
At Home in Duluth, program makes the Hillside a great place to live
By Robert Vokes
Everyone wants to live in a neighborhood that contributes to their quality of life. And everyone wants to live and raise a family in a safe neighborhood that includes access to shopping, schools, parks, and good transportation.
Thanks to the hard work by many residents and community organizations, which are helping shape projects that complement the neighborhood’s fabric and diversity, Central and East Hillside are becoming great places to live. But this didn’t just happen.
For the past eight years, the “At Home in Duluth” partners have been diligently working in three areas: housing, economic development, and community development. The “strategic partners” include resident-led groups (e.g., At Home in the East Hillside Implementation Committee, Central Hillside At Home Implementation Committee) and organizations such as Neighborhood Housing Services of Duluth, Hillside Business Association, the City of Duluth, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth (Duluth HRA), and the Duluth Local Initiatives Support Corporation (Duluth LISC), which initiated the “At Home in Duluth” partnership. Other partners include Center City Housing Corp., Northern Communities Land Trust, Women’s Community Development Organization, and the Women in Construction Company and Training Program.
The accomplishments of the partners have been significant. Just to list a few:
· Older, deteriorated housing is being upgraded, low- and moderate-income families assisted into homeownership, and new homes constructed on vacant lots, removing formerly blighted housing;
· The “At Home” Hillside Homeownership Incentive Program, an employer-assisted homeownership program funded by seven employers, has assisted 87 families through downpayment and closing cost assistance to purchase homes in the Central and East Hillside;
· The “At Home” Storefront Enhancement Pilot Program provides funding to upgrade the appearance of individual businesses to attract new customers and businesses to the neighborhood;
· Duluth HRA, Duluth LISC, and a private developer secured a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Harbor Highlands (formerly Harbor View) neighborhood; and
· “At Home” plans have lead to development of affordable and mixed-income units such as Alicia’s Place, Village Place, the Lake Superior Condominiums, and the New San Marco Apartments.
According to long-time East Hillside resident Mona Cheslak, who has been with the “At Home” initiative since the very beginning, “We residents really appreciate the emotional support, time commitment, expertise, and funding that the ‘At Home’ partners provide. Although there is still much to be done, we could not have accomplished what we did without our partners.”
Robert W. H. Vokes---Development/External Affairs Officer
Note: This is the first of a series of articles about the “At Home in Duluth” partnership and what they are doing to continue to improve the quality of life in the Hillside neighborhoods.