[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6175]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      RECOGNIZING SALEM HOUSING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

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                          HON. DALE E. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 12, 2005

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Salem Housing 
Community Development Corporation, located in my hometown of Flint, 
Michigan. On April 14, civic and community leaders will gather to honor 
Salem Housing at a Celebration and Awards Banquet entitled, ``20 Years 
of Building Community.''
  Salem Housing was created in 1984 by 5 neighborhood organizations and 
a church on Flint's north side. These 6 groups were brought together by 
common concerns about the deteriorating housing stock in their shared 
neighborhood: vacant and deteriorating houses, a declining 
homeownership base, and low-quality rental housing with high rents. 
They also shared concerns for those families who had to live in these 
deteriorated housing structures due to lack of financial resources, or 
unavailability of other housing options. As a result, they formed the 
Salem Housing Task Force, with a mission to ``improve family living 
conditions by providing safe, decent, and affordable housing for 
families of limited income, and to act as a catalyst to restore the 
neighborhoods within its service area.'' This area encompassed a 132-
block region, bounded by Pasadena Avenue on the north, Saginaw Street 
on the east, Wood/Begole on the south, and Dupont on the west.
  In 2001, the Salem Housing Task Force officially became the Salem 
Housing Community Development Corporation. They retained their goals of 
affordable homeownership, and the results have included the restoration 
of long vacant and blighted homes, helping homeowners renovate their 
existing homes, and they continue to work with local neighborhood 
organizations to improve and beautify their streets. In addition, they 
have provided training and information for skills including home repair 
and money management.
  Mr. Speaker, for 20 years, the Salem Housing Community Development 
Corporation has helped many Flint residents gain the satisfaction that 
comes with owning their own home, and they have helped cultivate civic 
pride as well. I am appreciative for all they have done to make our 
community a better place in which to live. I ask my colleagues in the 
109th Congress to please join me in commending them for their efforts 
over the past 20 years, and wish them much success in the future.

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