COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) —
- Video shows ... bungalow-style homes in Council Bluffs. One with new siding and other exterior updates. Another with a new driveway.
- Sue Mize and Brenda Galitz both received exterior repairs on their homes, thanks to a project coordinated by the 712 Initiative. At least 75 homeowners have been helped since the project began in 2021.
- SUE MIZE: “I want to stay in the house, and now I have a house when people drive by that I can be proud of…”
- Learn more: the712initiative.org/neighborhoods/amp-for-neighborhoods/
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Thanks to TS Bank, Habitat for Humanity, and the 712 Initiative, 25 homeowners in Council Bluffs received help with exterior repairs on their homes this year. I'm your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel and I spoke with two of the women who received that help.
SUE MIZE: “I cannot say enough wonderful things – I’m sorry – about 712 Initiative. I mean, before they did the work, I felt like I had the shabbiest looking house on the whole block, you know, and I was really ashamed, you know…”
Sue Mize’s mother bought the home in 1964 and it still had the same siding…
MIZE: “But now, when I drive by, I kind of have to look twice at it sometimes because it looks like a completely different house.”
She is one of at least 75 Council Bluffs homeowners who have received home improvement grants since 2021 from the 712 Initiative. TS Bank and a philanthropist help with funding, Habitat for Humanity and 712 contribute labor.
Cieandra Tripp, 712 project coordinator, says most recipients are disabled or elderly. They are nominated by neighbors, loved ones or apply for themselves.
TRIPP: “They’re wanting to stay in their homes and we’re trying to make sure that they can.”
MIZE: “My mother had Alzheimer’s disease and so, about in 2001, I moved in with her to take care of her and then, she was killed in a car accident that we had, and so, I inherited the house and I’ve been here ever since.”
Brenda Galitz was nominated by family…
GALITZ: “One day, my granddaughter called me and she said, ‘Grandma, I got some good news for you, you’re getting a driveway.’ On my birthday. And I started to cry because I had worried about that driveway. It was bad.”
She no longer worries about the safety of her many visitors. On Labor Day, they celebrated the new driveway…
GALITZ: “We had a cookout and I invited friends and family and we played games and we ate and we sat there ‘till dark.”
Mize received new siding, handrails, back steps and painted window frames.
MIZE: “I want to stay in the house, and now I have a house when people drive by that I can be proud of…”
Safety, dignity and pride…
