For years, the cluster of houses at 26th Street and Ash in northeast Wichita was the kind of block people drove past without looking. Dark plywood covered the windows and doors. The homes had been public housing, and they had been sitting empty.
Drive past now and it's a different street. Wichita Habitat for Humanity says the plywood is gone, replaced by new windows, doors and fresh siding, three months after crews started a gut rehabilitation of all eight homes in July.
The project is called Pope Leo Village, and an anonymous donor made it possible. In its Oct. 1 progress update, Habitat said the job is hitting its key exterior and structural milestones ahead of winter.
"The windows and doors are no longer boarded up, and the homes feel open to the community again," said Dana Korkki, Habitat's general contractor and construction department manager. "With the homeowners' paint choices going up on the exteriors, four of the eight houses are already starting to show their families' personalities."
Where the work stands
Here's the scorecard from Habitat. Seven of the eight homes are 80% to 90% done with windows, doors and siding, and Habitat expected siding to be finished across the whole site within about two weeks of the update. Seven homes already have carports framed and installed. Two new roofs are finished, with two more scheduled in the coming weeks.
Not everything has been smooth. Some of the houses need foundation repairs before interior work can move ahead, which is no surprise for homes that sat boarded up and empty.
The way Habitat split the work is worth noting. Professional subcontractors are handling the complicated structural remediation, roofing and mechanical systems. That cleared the way for volunteers to do the rest safely.
"We made the sites safer and dialed the projects in to fit our volunteers, so no matter what skill level they have, everybody can be safe and participate in the construction of the houses," Korkki said.
Now the job turns inside, to drywall, paint and interior finishes. Korkki is aiming high on the schedule.
"We're definitely within the grasp of finishing four families' homes so they can move in by Christmas, with another two or three being within striking distance of completion," he said.
Who gets the keys
When Habitat announced Pope Leo Village in April, it said the project honors Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, and that Wichita is one of several Habitat affiliates around the country running Pope Leo Villages. The anonymous sponsor challenged the community to volunteer, raise money and serve their own neighborhoods.
The eight homes will go to local families who complete Habitat's homeownership program. Those buyers put in work alongside volunteers and then buy their homes with zero-percent-interest mortgages. Habitat invited youth ages 16 and up, neighbors, faith groups and businesses to help on the build.
The project continues Habitat's Rock the Block #219 revitalization work in northeast Wichita. KMUW reported in April that Habitat was running a $300,000 campaign tied to the village, and that the nonprofit is also rehabbing 16 homes through its Rock the Block effort in the Piatt neighborhood.
Korkki said the best part of the last 90 days hasn't been the milestones. "It's been the opportunity to revitalize a neighborhood that's been dormant for so long," he said. "Seeing kids play together up and down the block and families talking to each other on the porch has been an unexpected reward."
Why it matters for Contractors
Pope Leo Village is a good reminder that nonprofit rehab work is real work for the trades. Habitat is leaning on professional subcontractors for the hard parts: structural repairs, foundation work, roofing and mechanical systems. Volunteers handle the finish work, but a pro still has to set the HVAC, run the plumbing and make sure an old foundation is sound. For roofers, foundation specialists and mechanical contractors in Wichita, Habitat and other housing nonprofits can be steady customers, especially as more boarded-up homes in older neighborhoods come back into play. Gut rehabs of vacant houses also tend to turn up surprises, like the foundation problems on this job, and contractors who can scope and price that kind of repair work are worth a lot to groups trying to stretch donated dollars.