Monday, April 27, 2009

Rust Belt Collective

Not that they couldn't have found a similar opportunity in their own backyard, two brothers from Greensburg, PA are now champions of Detroit, MI:

Inspired by a 20/20 episode that highlighted Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope's Hamtramck house project, Ian Perrotta and his brother hopped in their car and drove from Greensburg, PA -- that's about 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh -- straight to Detroit. Within a week, they had purchased five homes in Detroit just outside of the Hamtramck city limits.

Perrotta, a recent college graduate and member of the Greensburg Volunteer Department Hose Company #8, has experience with construction and salvage, but realized that five homes was a lot to take on. So, the brothers formed Habitat for Hamtramck. The organization is intended to promote the endeavor, draw in volunteers and funds, and keep all project finances transparent. Their web site will "serve as kind of a reality TV show to show how easy and feasible the task that I had set forward to accomplish was," Ian Perrotta says.

Hopefully, Team NEO is paying attention.

No comments: