 |
| John Birchette IV |
John
Birchette IV is standing in front of a boarded up house on Welbourne Street in
the Johnson City, Tenn. neighborhood where he was raised, and he’s smiling. Despite the presence
of other dilapidated homes in the once proud, neat-as-a-pin neighborhood that
surrounded Johnson City’s African-American high school, Birchette is hopeful
about the neighborhood’s future.
That’s
because the area is one target for a grant-funded neighborhood revitalization
program, “Aspire to Own,” that could create major positive change for families,
for housing stock and for neighborhoods. Over the next several years, seeded by
$1 million in “Capital Magnet Fund” grant funds from the CDFI Fund, Appalachian
Community Federal Credit Union (ACFCU) hopes to lead a collaborative effort in
low-income census tracts in Johnson City and other area communities.
Plans
call for renovation of 103 homes. Total investment should exceed $10 million in neighborhoods where capital investment is often scarce.
 |
| The Johnson City Press has given the fledgling neighborhood revitalization prominent news coverage. |
This
August 7 Johnson City Press article and this August 9 Press editorial provide
some details. The insights of someone like Birchette – who returned to Johnson
City five years ago after living in Atlanta for years – provide an important
additional perspective. He’s running a family business that’s been around for
several generations. He says friends ask him why he stays in Johnson City, a
burg of not-quite 70,000 souls with a small minority population. He’s caring
for his aging mom right now but not sure whether the place where he was born two
years after Johnson City schools integrated in 1965 will hold him.
 |
| John Birchette IV, left, and Johnson City Assistant City Manager Bob Wilson talk outside a dilapidated home on Welbourne Street. The Aspire to Own program will target homes like this one for renovation and sale to low- and moderate-income families. |
The
slow, challenging effort of neighborhood revitalization could make a
difference. Birchette also serves on the board of a 501c3 non-profit, Langston Education & Arts Development, that is spearheading efforts to maximize the impact of the old high school’s renovation. We thought we’d share his insights.
John
Birchette: “I’m excited about the potential. I grew up here, this is where I
rode my bike and my friends lived. It was community then. Now we’ve gone away
from that and we see what’s happened to the neighborhood. I’m excited about
things returning back to the way I remember.”
As a private sector guy, what do you
think it’s going to take? ACFCU has a grant, but it’s not that easy.
JB:
“Drumming up support in the community to where everybody wants to get involved.
Johnson City is a town that was built around that. I mowed all the neighborhood
yards – sometimes for free, because my grandmother said, ‘this person can’t afford
it, you go mow that yard.’
“We
need to get back to that, and when people see the area improve they’ll take
pride in it and commit themselves.”
You’ve been a big part of the
Langston project as well. Talk about this coinciding with that.
JB:
“We’ve always said, if you look from (Interstate) 26, you see Langston. It’s an
eyesore right now, but it’s a gateway into Johnson City. So if you improve the
area, naturally everything around it will improve. And this is my home. I want
it to improve. It’s a shame that, five-minute walk downtown to here, you have
to see this. It shouldn’t be that way.”
Do you know families, young or
not-so-young, that are renting and would probably want to buy in this
neighborhood?
(Jeff Keeling is vice president of communications and community relations for Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union.)
No comments:
Post a Comment