Program Fights Foreclosure Crisis

A bold plan seems to be working for a Charlotte neighborhood.

Peachtree Hills may have been one of the area neighborhoods hardest-hit by the foreclosure crisis.

A nonprofit group called Self-Help started buying foreclosed homes in the neighborhood in April 2008. They found people who wanted the houses and then helped those buyers get mortgages they could afford.

The group said it has bought 18 houses so far, and sold about 14 of them.

All of the buyers have been able to keep their homes.

Self-Help's Evan Covington-Chavez said, "As far as we know, and we've tried to stay in contact with as many of [the buyers] as we can, everyone seems to be doing fine, enjoying their homes."

She plans to keep flipping houses until Peachtree Hills hits a certain level of stability. That magic number is still around 25, so there are seven homes to go.

"When every house is occupied, you've got security, [you] feel good," Peachtree Hills resident Eustace Gachanga said. "[You] feel safer."

Crime in the area seems to be going down. During the year before Self-Help got involved, Peachtree Hills had 88 burglaries, 13 aggravated assaults, 3 armed robberies, a homicide and a rape.

This past year, the neighborhood had 71 burglaries, 5 aggravated assaults, 4 armed robberies and no homicides or rapes.

The group said if the project works in Peachtree Hills, it might try the same thing in other Charlotte neighborhoods.