What was once a blighted home on 15th Street in Davenport has been given a total makeover and is ready for its new owner.
Rejuvenate Housing Inc. is a Davenport-based nonprofit that takes on redeveloping homes in older communities to create new homeownership opportunities. Tuesday afternoon an open house was held at its newly completed project at 527 W. 15th Street.
The organization was started by Don Decker, who also was a leader of Rejuvenate Davenport. That program gathered business and community leaders to rid downtown Davenport of some 55 buildings between 1985 and 1990 — buying up blighted buildings, having them demolished and redeveloped, and laying the groundwork for downtown’s rebirth. Rejuvenate Housing, Inc., a branch of Rejuvenate, became an official nonprofit in 2021. Decker died the same year.
The home at 527 W. 15th Street in Davenport has been remodeled by Rejuvenate Housing, Inc. and is ready for its new home owner.
Gretchen Teske
Rejuvenate bought the 124-year old duplex on 15th Street last July and began working on renovations in December. The home has been converted back to a single-family dwelling, complete with four bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, upstairs laundry, new HVAC/heat, modern appliances and everything else the home needed to feel brand new.
“Our mission is to improve neighborhoods and create home ownership,” said Rejuvenate President Gwen Tombergs.
Renovation costs were covered by multiple grants, including the city’s Extreme DREAM program, designed specifically for rehabbing vacant and abandoned homes in the Gaines Street corridor. The Extreme DREAM Project offers a dollar for dollar match up to $100,000 for qualifying expenses.
Due to stipulations in the grants, the homeowners have to meet a maximum income limit, have a debt to income ratio no higher than 43%, attend home buying education classes and have a $100 down payment.
“If it’s just fair market we can have anybody apply, but that’s the whole idea of having a mixed neighborhood,” Tombergs said. “So we can have homeowners of all incomes taking pride in their neighborhood.”
The house on 15th Street is the third house Rejuvenate has renovated. A fourth one has been purchased, right across the street. Tombergs said Rejuvenate has been working with Argrow’s House, a nonprofit in Moline that provides services for women escaping domestic violence.
“They’re getting ladies ready for home ownership, so if the timing is right we will go ahead and have an opportunity for them to look at the house and qualify for it,” she said, adding the homeowner is lined up and ready to go. “We love this partnership because when they have people ready and we have a house ready, it makes it so easy.”
Kit Evans-Ford, founder of Argrow’s House, said the new home was perfect and a blessing for the new homeowner. Women who utilize services at Argrow’s house are typically escaping trauma and abuse and sometimes have problems with low credit scores, bankruptcy or feeling dislocated as they work to find their footing once more.
Argrow’s House has revamped its housing program and allows women to live rent free for one year while they work to bring up their credit scores, pay off debts and build a savings. They also receive services to help with mental and psychological wellness to help them feel stable and capable of home ownership.
“We’re so excited that the pivot in our housing program is working. Our ladies are moving forward in beautiful ways,” Evans-Ford said, adding the new homeowner has spent the last year preparing for her next chapter. “She has worked so incredibly hard. It’s not just a home, this is the product of her hard labor not just physically but mentally and emotionally.”
A refugee, the new home owner is the first person in her family to own what Evans-Ford called “the American dream.”
“This is more than just a home,” Evans-Ford said. “This is a dream come true for generations with this particular family.”
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Tribal spearfishing tradition threatened by climate change
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist Max Wolter, right, and regional team supervisor Angelena Sikora remove fish from a net during a fish survey on Lac Courte Oreilles lake Thursday, April 11, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Auno Barber, left, and Mark Ojibway look in shallow water while preparing to spearfish at the Chippewa Flowage on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, Sunday, April 14, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Gabe Bisonette, a member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, spears a walleye by headlamp on the Chippewa Flowage Monday, April 15, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. Light from the spearfisher’s headlamp reflects off the eyes of the wallye, allowing them to spot the fish even in murky water. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The setting sun illuminates a strip of road winding through the Chippewa Flowage on Friday, April 19, 2024, in Hayward, Wis. The lake is popular for harvesting walleye and other fish during the spring spearfishing season. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Lights illuminate the water as Mick Tainter holds a spear while fishing at the Chippewa Flowage on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, Sunday, April 14, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources record the type, sex and size of fish during a fish survey on Lac Courte Oreilles lake Thursday, April 11, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Kelly Martin, left, embraces Muriel Shirriff, as he drops off frozen fish he and his family caught Friday, April 19, 2024, in Hayward, Wis. For Martin, sharing the excess fish he and his family caught with elders and other tribal members who can’t or haven’t been able to fish is an important part of spearfishing. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Young tribal members are ferried out on boats during a family and youth spearfishing event with members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa on Namekagon Lake, Friday, April 12, 2024, near Cable, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Donovan Martin, left, spears a fish as his father Kelly Martin, right, drives the boat on Round Lake Saturday, April 13, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Kelly Martin, top, cleans walleye with his son Kayleb Martin Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Kelly Martin, left, prepares fillets of walleye as Anthony Martin, center, and his son Caleb Ryan watch during a fish fry Friday, April 19, 2024, in Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Lisa Martin, left, embraces son Shae Martin during a fish fry with Kelly Martin, right, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Donovan Martin sharpens a spear before heading out to spearfish on Round Lake Saturday, April 13, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carol Hanlon, left, and Renee DeBrot record the sex, size and type of fish at a station at a boat landing on Round Lake Saturday, April 13, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. Each fish harvested during the tribal spearfishing season is recorded at the boat landing as the fish are brought in each night. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Walleyes caught are measured by a boat landing on Round Lake Saturday, April 13, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Mark Ojibway wades in shallow water looking for walleye during the spring spearfishing season at the Chippewa Flowage on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, Sunday, April 14, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. Walleye numbers in some lakes are dwindling due to warming waters, increasingly variable seasonal changes and lakeshore development. Losing the species would mean losing a food source for Ojibwe and other Indigenous people, a sovereign right to fish and a deep connection to tradition and nature. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Gabe Bisonette drops an offering of tobacco into the water before spearfishing on the Chippewa Flowage on Monday, April 15, 2024, near Hayward, Wis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
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