May 5, 2012
A pilot program operated by two nonprofit groups to place refugees in vacant, foreclosed homes has settled its first family into a renovated house in Lakewood.
Bhutanese natives Ruk and Leela Rai, along with their 3-year-old son, Anish, moved into an updated century home on Hopkins Avenue last week.
Two years ago, the International Services Center resettled the Rais in Cleveland from a refugee camp in Nepal, where Ruk and Leela had lived for 20 years. Their son was born in the camp.
Through the center’s programs, they learned life skills and found jobs. And now they are the first recipients of the new housing program created by the center and the Cuyahoga County land bank.
About a year ago, the land bank, which has acquired a number of empty foreclosed homes, teamed with the center to split the costs of renovating the vacant Lakewood home and renting it to a refugee family.
So far, the partnership has worked well. And there’s a good chance it will continue, as the center needs housing for its stream of refugees, and the land bank, which razes many empty foreclosed homes, needs occupants.
It cost $40,000 to rehab the Lakewood house, which is cheaper than demolishing an empty foreclosed property.
The partnership is looking for another house to rehab, and the program might become lease-to-own, said Traci Gilley, community relations director for the center.
Meanwhile, the Rais are paying $550 a month, plus utilities, as they adapt to a new culture.
“These are people who have spent most of their lives in a refugee camp,” Gilley said. “To them, Cleveland is the Promised Land. Everything about Cleveland is great to them, even the weather.
“Their lives have been put on hold for a long time. And now this is chapter one.”
Source: Cleveland.com
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