Habitat Tears Down Shrinking City's Houses

"International leaders of Habitat, more than three decades old, say their focus is changing to meet the demands of a changing economy. In cities where so many homes sit empty, the group is leaning away from building new houses and instead fixing up old ones, said Ken Klein, the vice chairman of the Habitat board.

In recent years, about 100 local Habitat affiliates around the country have done the same, removing recyclable items, like cabinets, floorboards, plaster and light fixtures, from condemned houses and, in a few cities, even tearing some down.

In Saginaw, city leaders acknowledge that some have been skeptical, or at least puzzled, by the notion that Habitat would tear down houses. But these leaders contend that the move makes sense: workers will remove (and resell) reusable housing material rather than send it to landfills, some homeless or unemployed people will be paid to work on the program, and money earned through the demolitions will go toward Habitat's longtime goal of getting poor families into new or rehabbed homes."