FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – A Florence City Council member wants to develop a nonprofit organization that will help improve struggling neighborhoods.
Council woman Teresa Myers-Ervin says the group would use money from grants to complete projects like cleaning up abandoned properties and other initiatives that would make communities safer.
Neighbors in North Florence say there are several properties that have been abandoned for some time, whether from the homeowner moving, the owner failing to maintain the house, or in some cases, the homeowner passing away.
“These houses have been abandoned for a while,” says Kinshaw James, who has lived in North Florence his entire life. There are five dilapidated properties on James’ street.
“I want to see somebody to at least put forth the effort to at least try to fix things up,” urges James. “You know, to make people want to come to this neighborhood.”
Council woman Myers-Ervin hopes to develop a community development nonprofit organization to improve neighborhoods in North and East Florence.
“To get downtown, you have got to come through one of these communities,” says Myers-Ervin. “We have to focus on community development in order to have a healthy downtown.”
Myers-Ervin says the organization will apply for grants to purchase abandoned homes.
“We have an old housing stock in all of the downtown community areas,” Myers-Ervin confirms. “I need to see people building new homes and the old stock that we have there rehab them.”
The group will also work with the city, after the city purchases a home, to decide what to do with the home.
“I want to work with a group that is independent,” explains Myers-Ervin. “We don’t want them to feel pressured by any government agency. We want to have the ability to truly look at the situation and help us to know what is best for the community.”
Myers-Ervin says the group of seven will go to California in October to train on how to start and operate a community development council. She hopes to have the organization up in about one year.
