To kick off the New Year, a young neighborhood family moved into an East Liberty Development Inc.-owned home in Garfield that had been a labor of love for hundreds of Open Hand Ministries (OHM) volunteers over the past 6 months. Volunteers worked to create a sustainable, efficient and beautiful new home for the family.

This ELDI partnership enabled the creation of OHM’s first official transitional housing. Mom, Dad and two children moved in with blazing speed, assisted by family and friends and 30 OHM volunteers!  This will be a safe, stable place for this family to live as they prepare for OHM home ownership.

Years of helping families into home ownership has allowed OHM to see how the absentee/slum land-lordship is a major obstacle to our community members.  These unstable, stressful, and costly living environments represent a significant challenge for families, making the already demanding endeavor of credit repair, budgeting, and financial management virtually impossible.  This Transitional Rental Program is a response to this obstacle, offering eligible OHM families :

1) Affordable monthly rent – approx. 70% of market rate

2) Stability – an extension of the OHM family care process – defined by dignity, mutuality and respect

3) Savings program – a portion of the monthly rent will be set aside on behalf of the family

Hopefully, this is a first of several transitional rental homes for families in our area. For more information about Open Hand Ministries please visit openhandpgh.org.

The moving team helps the family move into their newly renovated transitional home.

Volunteers gathered in the house.

Akirah Robinson and Michael Stanton of Open Hand Ministries explain the history of the house to volunteers.