New homes on the north side
/ photo by Alex Dunbar
SYRACUSE -- After a revitalization project put new homes on Syracuse's north side, there's a push to help people become homeowners there.
After years of waiting, Brandiss Pearson finally had the house she always wanted for her two sons. "When we actually got the keys and came in, I just went up to my bedroom and I just sat on the floor and I just quietly whispered a little prayer and said thank you."
The home on the north side is just around the corner from St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center where she works as a nurse. With help from Home Headquarters, she was able to get a mortgage from Alliance Bank, and a space of her own. "It's super important," she says, You can't just live somewhere. You have to be part of a community."
The program is very different from the creative financing that led to the high foreclosures in many parts of the country. Brandiss's mortgage is backed by Home Headquarters and two charitable foundations. To qualify, she had to complete an extensive homebuyer education course to make sure she was ready.
Kerry Quaglia, of Home Headquarters, says, "We feel that people who own their own home in the neighborhood, they take care of it. They look out for their neighbor and the neighborhood is a better place to live."
Home Headquarters has already renovated or rebuilt 60 homes in the north side neighborhood, and neighbors say they're already seeing the benefits. More people looking to move in than move out. If you haven't seen it in a few years, Melvin Smith says you don't know his neighborhood around St. Joseph's. "New house over here, they just finished doing that one, that's another one up the block. They're doing a lot of work here," Smith says.
