The City of Baltimore has launched a program to rehabilitate empty structures and vacant lots into useable housing, Mayor Brandon Scott said this week.
The UPLIFT program will use Habitat for Humanity to build 27 homes in the Orchard Ridge neighborhood of Baltimore, with five of those going to first-time homeowners.
“Today really is a legendary day for the state of Maryland, and a legendary day because this is what community is all about. This is what legacy is all about,” Moore said in a statement.
Baltimore City has more than 14,000 vacant homes and close to 20,000 unused lots, according to the Baltimore City Department of Housing and community development.
Moore said the UPLIFT initiative in East Baltimore is a first step toward reinvesting locally.
“This is what investment is all about, and this is what creating generational wealth is all about. It is important to be able to build opportunity in places where oftentimes has been robbed of it,” he said in his statement.
