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Habitat planning another big build in east Mishawaka

The Oak Grove Mobile Home Park at McKinley and Byrkit avenues in Mishawaka. Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County has bought the property and is giving its tenants until early May to move out. Habitat plans to build a new neighborhood on the 9-acre site.
Jeff Parrott/WVPE
The Oak Grove Mobile Home Park at McKinley and Byrkit avenues in Mishawaka. Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County has bought the property and is giving its tenants until early May to move out. Habitat plans to build a new neighborhood on the 9-acre site.

Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County is gearing up for another big project in eastern Mishawaka.

It’s been six years since former President Jimmy Carter came to Mishawaka to help build The Fields at Highland, a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood where Northside Little League once stood. Now the nonprofit plans another build just up the street.

Habitat has bought the nearby Oak Grove Mobile Home Park, at McKinley and Byrkit, and it’s notified the 34 families living there that they need to move out by early May. Fewer than a quarter of the park’s 118 lots are occupied, and many trailers have boarded up windows and tarps for roofs.

Rehoming people in order to create affordable home ownership is something new for Habitat of St. Joseph County, and CEO Jim Williams says they’re taking that part of the project seriously.

"No matter how you slice it, it's never easy to be told, 'Hey, we're going to be closing the park and you're going to have to move.' That's stressful," Williams said. "And we're just trying to do everything we can to lessen that stress."

Williams says two of the families already have found new homes. Habitat hopes to start construction this summer. Those who are interested in living in the new neighborhood can attend informational meetings in January.

Parrott, a longtime public radio fan, comes to WVPE with about 25 years of journalism experience at newspapers in Indiana and Michigan, including 13 years at The South Bend Tribune. He and Kristi have two children currently attending Indiana University in Bloomington. In his free time he enjoys fixing up their home, following his favorite college and professional sports teams, and watching TV (yes that's an acceptable hobby).