While historic homes have a charm when they become decrepit, they damage property values and, more importantly, fail as safe places to live. In Rapid City, Black Hills Works has recovered a home and has made it livable once again.
Funding for the project was secured through the local Community Development Block Grant program and was profiled nationally as a successful execution of such a project.
Andrea Serna is the Black Hills Works foundation president. She explained the value of the project, found on Curtis Street in North Rapid.
“The city did the demolition of the home that was on the property and gave us the vacant lot," Serna said. "The home is a four-plex – it’s not like your home or my home. It would be four individual bedrooms, and there are Jack-and-Jill bathrooms, and a shared space. So, they each have their own room, but it provides a home to four ladies.”
Serna said projects like these represent serious steps forward in the lives of clients.
“What does it do for you to have your own space," Serna asks. "To have your own space, I think it’s a frame of reference. When you have something you haven’t had before.”
These projects can’t just appear though, and Serna says it would have been impossible without the support from the city. Kristina Roth is the organizations grants officer.
“It’s very gratifying, and really very rewarding to see them in a home, especially a home specifically designed for their needs," Roth said. "It’s extremely gratifying to see something that starts from words on a page to turn into a house where people are living.”
This specific project was highlighted in the most recent national CDBG Impact Report on page 22. A link to that report can be found here.