Grassroots has a long-term vision for investing in North Waco and because of that perspective, we get to know a lot of our neighbors. This relationship building helps when we are looking for lots to build new houses on in the older neighborhoods of Waco.

We first met Ms. Dodd’s mom about 20 years ago when we approached her about buying her empty lot. She wasn’t interested in selling at the time, but she was interested in what else Grassroots was doing in her community. One of the programs she took notice of was our homeownership program that seeks to help those wanting to purchase a home. She passed that information on to her daughter, Ms. Dodd, who was motivated to get into a house of her own that she could call home.

After completing our homeownership program, Ms. Dodd purchased a home in North Waco and currently resides at that residence. As the years passed along, her mother passed away but we kept in contact with Ms. Dodd. She came to us earlier this year to learn about property taxes and we inquired again about the family lot.  She finally decided that the time was right to sell. What a gift.

Now, the price of the lot has gone way up in the past 20 years.  In fact, the price for lots is 30 times higher today.  Fortunately, we have other community members that support our vision and mission in these neighborhoods and help contribute to the purchasing of empty lots. Earlier this year, the Thomas family came to us with a sizable donation and told us to use it to buy land and help make a home more affordable. So earlier this fall we were able to buy the lot from Ms. Dodd. Another gift.

We were blessed to be the recipients of these gifts, knowing that the true blessing would be building a house on this lot and providing a home to a family in the community.

But the story continues. Ms. Dodd reached out to us after the purchase of her lot and told me how excited she was. “I am happy to know that the lot will be used to build a home for a family in your program and that I was able to contribute to that. I’m sure my mom would have been happy about that also. And now I am able to repair my house that has needed some attention.”  A final gift.

We are so excited to help bring another new home into North Waco, help another renter become a homeowner and help an existing homeowner afford to make repairs to her home. These are the stories that keep us going and allow us to continue the work we are doing in North Waco.