Affordable housing | Mount Vernon Baptist Church partners with Durham Habitat for Humanity on home builds [Video]

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Some home building cues in Durham are obvious, like the latest high-rise residential tower under construction downtown. But in Durham’s Southside community, not far from the gentrified homes that some dreamers wish they could afford, you can hear the echoes of hammers driving nails as crews build the first of ten Habitat for Humanity homes.

The work’s underway days after Vice President Kamala Harris said if her bid for the White House succeeds, she’ll work to provide up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time prospective homeowners.

That possibility makes Reverend Jerome T. Washington smile. His church owns the land where Habitat is building now.

“I was excited,” he said when asked about the Harris proposal. “We meet people every day who are hard-working people who are sincere and wanting homeownership, but it’s out of reach for them. So that idea was a fantastic idea of helping people through …