South Bend neighborhood gets $300,000 face-lift

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – One of South Bend’s neighborhoods is getting a facelift valued at more than $300,000.
 

River Park was chosen for the 24th Annual Rebuilding Together project.
 

Mayor Pete Buttigieg and city council members joined area residents Wednesday afternoon to kick off the project that will rehabilitate 18 area homes.
 

Lella Slaughter said she felt like she won the lottery when she found out her home, located on Ironwood Drive and Vine Street, was one of the 18 chosen.
 

“I felt like Ed McMann was going to jump out of a car and somebody was going to have some balloons,” she said laughingly.
 

Slaughter’s home is set to get new roofing, repainted siding, plumbing upgrades, and new air conditioning.
 

Mayor Pete Buttigieg said the project is an example of how the community of South Bend is working together to help those in need this spring.
 

“When you look at something like Rebuilding Together in its 24th year, you see an example of something that’s going right in this community,” said Buttigieg. “(It’s) really serving a number of seniors and disabled residents who wouldn’t be able to enjoy these improvements to their house otherwise.”
 

More than 800 volunteers will hit the streets in April, splitting up the work over the course of two Saturdays, the 14th and 21st.
 

Rebuilding Together said it plans to replace at least 12 roofs, complete exterior painting at 13 homes, upgrade furnaces in six homes, and help with yard cleanup and trash removal, all at no cost to the homeowner.
 

The organization was established in 1989 as Christmas in April, and has rehabilitated 809 homes in South Bend, with costs totaling around $10.4 million.