3 new homeowners get their keys as community groups work to transform Chicago's Roseland community
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Neighborhood streets in Chicago once known for empty lots are filling up with new homes.
On Wednesday, three families were handed keys in the Far South Side's Roseland community. The milestone is part of Reclaiming Chicago, an effort to build thousands of homes on vacant lots.
James Williams Jr., Sean Brinker, and Linda Brown Wilson are all now owners of new modular homes on East 118th Street.
"Roseland looks like everything is changing," Williams said. "We know it's going to get better."
The concrete front steps to Wilson's front door may have looked cold, but she was still proud to sit on them as she spoke to CBS News Chicago.
"It doesn't feel cold—it feels good," she said, "because I know I'm sitting on my steps."
The three strangers are now neighbors in the three modular homes, and all are thrilled.
"You plant your feet and say, 'This is mine,'" said Brinker.
The new builds are part of a broad and bold plan from the Hope Center Foundation and other community organizations.
"This is the first time in 60 years that we've had new home construction in the Roseland community," said the Rev. James Meeks, pastor emeritus of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and a former Illinois state senator.
The plan calls for building 1,000 new homes on the South Side, and 1,000 more on the West Side.
"You're going to have families invested," said Williams. "It'll be their homes."
Ten brand-new homes are now on the ground in Roseland, and there are plans to break ground on 25 more this spring—filling empty lots with single-family homes.
Wilson is moving in, and moving on, from four years of homelessness.
"We had a house fire, and we lost everything," she said.
A year ago, Wilson also lost her only son.
Keys are now in her hands, and those of Brinker and Williams—also first-time homebuyers—just in time for the holidays.
"No, right before Christmas?" said Williams. "Couldn't get no better than that."
And Roseland is now a neighborhood no longer left behind, but uplifted.