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2009 Neighborhood Revitalization

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Seven days, 38 homes, one park, and more than 800 volunteers later - the 2009 Neighborhood Revitalization Project is complete.

The Dow Chemical Company, headquartered in Midland, Mich., and Bay County Habitat for Humanity, joined with more than 35 organizations throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region - which comprises Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties - to paint, landscape, and repair porches, windows and screens along with other home improvement projects in the Rexer-Jablonski neighborhood on Bay City's southeast side July 24-31.

Home before renovation

David Dupre, vice president of Michigan Operations, credited Dow employees for their participation in this collaborative effort with Habitat. "The overwhelming success of this project is a testament to the caliber of people I am fortunate enough to work with every day and to the worthiness of the work being done by Bay County Habitat and others involved in this effort."

Home after renovation

Homeowners involved in the project spoke eloquently about their experience and how the renovations were greatly appreciated. And though each shared a unique story, one common theme remained: Such incredible work could not have been accomplished without the support of so many people.

Painting window trim

Bob Jarve, executive director of Bay County Habitat, expressed his thanks to Dow and to other donors and participants in the week-long project. He promised that next summer his organization would find a way to repeat this year's efforts in another neighborhood, allowing Bay City to continue its efforts to make the community a great place to live and work.

This marks the second consecutive year Dow has participated in a neighborhood revitalization project. In 2008, Dow joined with Saginaw County Habitat to revitalize a 15-block neighborhood near Covenant Healthcare. Dow has gone injury-free throughout both projects.