COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Over 100 volunteers transformed a Council Bluffs neighborhood through Habitat for Humanity's Rock the Block, bringing fresh paint and repairs to homes.
- Rock the Block is an annual two day long event focusing on revitalizing neighborhoods in the Council Bluffs community.
- We spoke to homeowner Renee Arterburn who shares how much it meant to her to have the volunteers help her out.
- "To see people coming here and helping our neighborhood look better... it just is a heartfelt thank you to everyone," she said.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Fresh paint, fixed fences and plenty of helping hands transformed a Council Bluffs neighborhood as Habitat for Humanity's Rock the Block brought over 100 volunteers together to revitalize the area.
The sounds of hammers, shovels and conversation filled the block on 2nd and 3rd Avenue between 9th and 11th Streets, where nearly every porch and driveway had volunteers making repairs.
One of those homes belongs to Renee Arterburn, who has lived there for 8 years and needed help replacing missing siding, repainting her trim and freshening up her porch.
"It was built in 1895, so she's pretty old and needed some love," Arterburn said.
Repairs like Arterburn's were funded through a partnership between Habitat Council Bluffs and National Indemnity along with Berkshire Hathaway HomeState Insurance.
"And I think you can see the difference right away when everything gets fixed all on like the list that we have," said Jaime Renshaw, a volunteer with National Indemnity and Berkshire Hathaway.
This is Habitat's second day-long effort to help homeowners here feel pride in their neighborhood.
"At one point I had somebody ask me where I lived, and I told that gentleman, and his response was, 'Oh, you live in the ghetto?' And it really struck me hard so to see people coming here and helping our neighborhood look better... it just is a heartfelt thank you to everyone," Arterburn said.
The area was specifically chosen because it's next to Habitat Council Bluffs' largest new development yet.
"We like to not just lift up that new home buyer, but that neighborhood that they're that they're moving into," said Blake Johnson, executive director of Habitat Council Bluffs.
Johnson says the goal is to ease hardships while building community.
"We really try to meet folks where they are, do what we can to help them out, and you know, bring all of the friends and supporters along the way," Johnson said.
Neighbors say the work has brought them closer together.
"It's just really neat to see us reaching out to one another and and getting to know our neighbors," Arterburn said.
For the work that still remains beyond the event, Habitat will come back and finish each project as needed.
