Fundraiser set at renovated home / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, November 10, 2009

By Devin Lowell - Special to the Journal-World

November 10, 2009

Tenants to Homeowners invites the public to its Wine & Cheese Gala from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 20 at the 1120 R.I. home.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door or at the Tenants to Homeowners office, 2518 Ridge Court, Suite 209.

On Nov. 20, two nonprofit groups will celebrate a victory for affordable housing in Lawrence with a Wine & Cheese Gala.

Tenants to Homeowners and Lawrence Preservation Alliance will host the fundraiser at the site of their recent joint effort, a newly renovated house at 1120 R.I.

“It’s a beautiful example of a project between two Lawrence nonprofits,” said Rebecca Buford, executive director of Tenants to Homeowners.

The house, a bungalow-style home more than 100 years old, is part of the Rhode Island National Historic District.

The restoration represented a balancing act between the two organizations’ missions. “Our mission is affordable housing, and historic renovation like this is typically more expensive,” Buford said.

Now that the project is near completion, Tenants to Homeowners will soon put the house on the market.

Despite the cost of renovation, the Affordable Housing Trust hopes to offer the house at under $100,000, much cheaper than a typical home in Lawrence.

Paul Wood, Lawrence, knows the importance of the organization’s mission. Wood purchased the first house offered by the trust.

“The people targeted for Tenants to Homeowners are working people,” Wood said. “They’re in a good position, except that the housing market here is expensive.”