By Othor Cain,
Editor,
Relocate, Revitalize, Restore.
Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and restorer of homes. (Isaiah 58.12)
According to the website of New Horizon Ministries in Jackson, the mission/vision of the I-58 Project is designed to save the heart of the community and economic value in South Jackson.
The promise of this project is to rebuild a fallen community due to residential transfer and other negative references. Using various methods, this project will be the breach to the gap of this fallen community. This will be done by strategic placement of positive practices, enforcements, and people within the community of which it will serve.
The I-58 Project will improve South Jackson by effectively solving problems and finding answers to its issues, bringing back the vitality of its inhabitants through the reconstruction of an existing community. The method is three-fold:
1. Relocate 200 families back into the South Jackson Community.
2. Revitalize lives by positively affecting the families that live in those communities
3. Restore communities by being a part of the neighborhoods where we relocate and seek to be good neighbors.
Since its inception, the mission has expanded to include West Jackson. New Horizon Ministries has partnered with Mississippi Faith-Based Coalition and the Stratum Development Fund. Together, they’ve acquired over 200 properties. “This is a public-private partnership involving the state and the city,” said Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr. of New Horizon Church. “We were able to acquire these tax-forfeited properties.”
The project’s name comes from the Bible verse Isaiah 58;12: “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of street dwellings.”
The group does not rent homes, they only sell them. “We can renovate a house and put a family in it and that is much cheaper than rent in this part of town,” Crudup said. “We are going to make something possible for people. They are going to save money, they are going to get a quality product.
Tuesday, the group unveiled its latest project in the 2400 block of Coronet Place in South Jackson. A few months ago the structure was a decaying eyesore in the community but the scenery yesterday included green plants, fresh landscaping, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a spacious kitchen and deck.
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann was on hand and raved about the restoration. “Jackson is on the fast track back to the way we remember it and the way we want it to be,” Hosemann said.
The cost of renovating this project was approximately $50K and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba couldn’t be happier that people are investing in Jackson.
“It’s about reminding people that they are not forgotten, that their community is not forgotten,” Lumumba said. “Our initiative in being a transformative administration is that while we build this city, that we look at opportunities not to move away, but instead to lift people up.
Be the first to comment