Students in the D26 program are working on the construction of a new house through a partnership with the local Habitat for Humanity organization.
The students are working on a three-bedroom, two-bath house in the 2100 block of Pearl Street.
Leeland Barritt, a senior at Anderson High School, has been in the program for two years.
“Last year I took part in the program and then this year we are working on a house,” he said.
Barritt said the students were working on framing the interior of the house.
He said he might be interested in a career in as a carpenter.
Braken Little, a senior at Lapel High School, is also a second-year student in the program.
“I like the people I meet and they have great teachers,” he said of the program. “I like the carpentry work.”
Little has an apprenticeship lined up for the summer as an electrician.
“We’ve already met the family,” he said of the home’s eventual owners. “He was here working on the outside of the house.”
Jan Miller, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Madison County, said three houses will be constructed in the Pearl Street neighborhood over the next three years.
“This is part of a bigger project,” she said. “Funds for this house came through the American Rescue Plan and through a partnership with ACDC (Anderson Community Development Corp).
Miller said the long term goal is to invest $440,000 into the area.
“The goal is to demolish five homes and have them repurposed into in-fill housing,” she said.
The plan is to build three more houses in 2024.
Lelia Kelley, executive director of the Anderson Community Development Department, said it’s important because this census tract has one of the lowest home ownership rates in the city and the highest rents.
“Building affordable housing for home ownership is very important,” Kelley said. “This neighborhood has not seen any real investment in over 30 years.”
She said obtaining the properties through the Blight Elimination Program has allowed them to get the project started and target this neighborhood.
In 2023 there were four homes constructed and the intention is to construct four more this year, she said.
“We’ve really increased the number of new homes being constructed,” she said. “It used to be three houses every three years.”
Miller said that is a result of the partnership with the city of Anderson and the school system.
Kelley said the partnership allows Habitat to reinvest their money and close the funding gap.
“The areas they’re building in was not a marketable area,” she said. “We can build the houses for what we can sell for and we provide the gap funding so they are not building at a loss.”
Kelley said as a result of the Habitat for Humanity on Fletcher Street, several private owners have improved housing in the neighborhood.
“This neighborhood is going to see change, but it will take time,” she said. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”