West Rehoboth Coalition says: Move that house!
Continuing progress toward the revitalization of West Rehoboth,
A four-bedroom house on Henlopen Avenue has traveled over the canal and on to a new foundation on Duffy Street in West Rehoboth.
The home that once stood at Henlopen and Gerar avenues was donated to Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches by a family that wished to remain anonymous. It was moved to a Duffy Street property owned by the Frances Reed family in West Rehoboth.
Three generations of the family, including 85-year-old matriarch Frances, who had a stroke three years ago, her son and caretaker Joe Reed Sr. and grandson Joe Reed Jr. will live in the relocated residence.
Neighborhood revitalization efforts
This is the first of three new homes the Coalition of West Rehoboth and Lewes-Rehoboth Association of Churches will bring to the community in the coming months, Project Director Kevin McKinney said.
“With the Reed family, their rented home is for sale,” McKinney said. “This became the perfect time to get a home of their own that they can afford.”
The next move in a continuing effort to revitalize West Rehoboth will be tearing down a dilapidated West Rehoboth house in June, he said. A new house will be built on the property this summer.
Laying new foundations
Since the Reed family already owned the lot on Duffy Street where their new home now rests, this move became the first in a series of steps the coalition plans toward achieving its goal of revitalizing West Rehoboth.
The Reed family's new home is a starting point for the community rehabilitation the coalition has planned, McKinney said.
For new homeowner Joe Reed Sr., the home is a blessing. A grateful father and son joined crews to deliver the residence in West Rehoboth.
"The home came out of Rehoboth, and it’s still staying in Rehoboth,” Reed Sr., said.
On the road home
Navigating from the woods of Henlopen Avenue, around the traffic circle, down Church Street, under low-hanging wires and finally through a narrow opening to cross a final lot and land on a new foundation, Reed said the journey had been nerve-wracking.
The Reeds' rented residence is only a block from the new home. The family hopes to move in as soon as the home is fully lowered on its foundation.
"It’s a great thing as well as a comfort to us. It will be an asset to the community – it’s perfect,” Reed said. “It’s a perfect house for the neighborhood.”
The other end of Duffy Street ends in a dirt road littered with beer bottles and oil cans, and old appliances are scattered on a property not far from the new house. McKinney said moving the house was a first step toward the coalition's larger goal.
To find out more about the Coalition for West Rehoboth or to make a donation, the coalition is located at 19801 Norwood St., Rehoboth Beach.
