BALTIMORE — "It's something that I can call mine."
Keisha Pack is already rehearsing her invitations to her new home. And it's safe to say she likes the sound of it
"Oh you wanna come over my house girl? Because I own my home, come on over!" she joked on Friday to WMAR-2 News.
WATCH: An opportunity for homeownership in Orchard Ridge
She's one of the proud new homeowners waiting to move in to the Orchard Ridge community. It's part of the largest single project in the last decade for Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake. 27 new townhomes are planned for this neighborhood, with nine currently under construction
"50 years ago, this was Claremont Homes and Freedom Village. 252 public housing units. Today, it is way different. It's a beautiful, thriving, exciting, colorful community,” Mike Post, CEO for Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, said.
The project was funded in part by a loan from the state's "UPLIFT Program," which was announced by Governor Moore back in 2023, to increase homeownership opportunities in historically redlined communities. Orchard Ridge is the first community to be awarded funding. The goal is to boost home values in neighborhoods with large appraisal gaps - when the appraisal value of a home is lower than the sales price.
"It's easy to build homes in places that everybody has already put investments in. It's important to be able to build opportunity in places that oftentimes have been robbed of it,” Governor Moore said during a Friday afternoon press conference.
"We are focused on addressing one of the most persistent and ugly barriers to community revitalization and that is the appraisal gap,” Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day said. “And it may seem technical but it is the measurable effect of injustice and inequity. It's inequity in dollars, crystal clear, one property versus another.”
“Our model of home ownership is more than just a house. Homeowners provide 250 hours of sweat equity, either on the construction site, working at our office or at events, in our retail businesses called the restores, and also participate in education programs from financial planning and budgeting to basic home repairs. And when their home is ready to be purchased, they received what's equivalent to a zero interest mortgage” Posco explained.
The UPLIFT program is starting in Orchard Ridge, but this is just the beginning.
“In $1.25 million dollar amounts, we will neighborhood by neighborhood be working to establish opportunities for homeownership. 27 families right here in Orchard Ridge and elsewhere throughout this city and throughout this state,” Secretary Day said during the press conference.
Construction for the Orchard Ridge project is expected to wrap up in 2027.