PORCH Pacific Project renovates first house

The PORCH (People Organized to Revitalize Community Healing) initiative is looking to rebuild southern Cape Girardeau one family and one home at a time. In the case of the new Pacific Project, it's a literal interpretation of the goal.

The community group purchased four properties, three on South Pacific Street and one on South Ellis Street, with plans to completely rejuvenate them and bring in first-time homeowners to the area.

"We were looking for homes that needed to be cared for. Homes that needed to be revitalized, renovated and rebuilt," PORCH executive director and Cape Girardeau City Council member Tameka Randle said.

Work on the first home at 1143 S. Pacific St. began in late September. Twelve weeks later, on Dec. 15, it was ready to go up for sale.

"One of our goals is to sell the home to an owner- occupant, someone who will live here and have pride in it," PORCH community initiatives manager Rachael Long said.

PORCH will help new homeowners learn the ropes of owning their own property through community partnerships and aid. From left: PORCH Housing Initiative Committee member Marvin McBride, broker Lois Long, PORCH board chair Tamara Zellars Buck, PORCH community initiatives manager Rachael Long, PORCH executive director Tameka Randle, project manager D.J. Goodson and contractor Armando Perez.Christopher Borro

To help in this regard, PORCH has been working with partners to assist residents with closing costs, down payments and inspections.

"Because once you buy a home, that's when you start to encounter all the problems. Instead of calling a landlord, it all falls on you," Long added.

Funds raised from selling the first house will be put toward work on the next, and so on and so forth. Once the first four homes are rebuilt and sold, PORCH will purchase additional properties to fix up and get new homeowners in them as well.

"Our biggest thing is to help people become homeowners here in south Cape ... and to help people come into generational wealth," Randle said.

From a house to a home

The new kitchen at 1143 S. Pacific St. in Cape Girardeau features entirely new amenities. Contractors completely rebuilt the house, including the basement and backyard, in just 12 weeks.Christopher Borro

EDGE Realty broker Lois Long, Rachael's mother, called the 12-week renovation a big transformation.

"Every surface, every wire, every appliance, every pipe, everything is new," she said. "Nothing was salvageable. Nothing."

Before, the house had no functioning laundry, a broken patio overhang, a half-foot of water in the basement and mismatched windows. The air conditioning unit had even been stolen. It was in a general state of decay.

Armando Perez and Perez Home Construction worked day in and day out to complete the transformation.

"Armando's crew is legit. They work hard and they care, which is sometimes rare," project manager D.J. Goodson said. He said they even worked on Thanksgiving Day.

The crew remade the kitchen into a bedroom and a bedroom into the kitchen. They added washer and dryer hookups on the main floor and the basement.

They rebuilt the basement, added an extra half-bathroom, installed larger windows and included a new air conditioning unit and a utility pole outside.

Everything was done according to city permits and with regular inspections.

If everything goes to plan, Goodson said the remaining renovations for the Pacific Project should be done in a similar time frame to the first.