PONTIAC (WWJ) A Pontiac woman and her two young sons received the keys to their new home just in time for Mother’s Day.
“It’s like a dream,” Jamillyah Palmer, 32, said about her new, recently renovated home in the Historic General Motors Modern Housing Neighborhood in Pontiac. She will live there with her two sons, Dallas, 8, and Dayton, 3.
“There’s a difference between having a place to stay and having a home,” she told WWJ’s Jon Hewett. “This will be considered a home for us…”
Their new place is courtesy of the Pontiac Housing Commission, as the Commission looks to improve housing options for families in need.
“There is our first single home we’ve actually rehabbed…we want this to be a domino effect. We don’t want this to be one home in the neighborhood that’s decent.” Ahmad Taylor, Restoration Director, told Hewett. “We want every home in the neighborhood to be decent.”
In an interview with FOX 2, Taylor explained that Palmer was selected via a lottery among multiple eligible families.
Prior to rehabbing it for the Palmers, the 1920s home was considered “blight” and was slated for the wrecking ball.
Taylor told FOX 2 this is one of more than two thousand homes the city hopes to rehab or make available to fix Pontiac's "housing deficit." He also hopes it will help generations to come: “Get equity, build wealth within your family. That’s the idea with all of this."
“There’s nothing compared to a home,” Palmer told WWJ. “When I got the call, I was like ‘Oh my G-d!”
Any business, building or contractors who want to help out should reach out at pontiachousingmi.com.