Our West Bayfront Presents Completed Volunteer-led Affordable Housing Project
Community rebuild repairs blighted home for low-income family, elevates neighborhood pride
On the day after Thanksgiving in the fall of 2023, staff from Our West Bayfront, alongside volunteers from the neighborhood, and the Gannon women's basketball team entered 811 W. Seventh St. – the scene was described as "a heroic clean-out" by former Executive Director Anna Frantz. The home, which was once a cozy family home like any other, was abandoned for years, left to rot, and became a blighted property that anyone except folks with an optimistic vision and a true care for the well-being of a neighborhood would see as a total tear-down.
On Tuesday, July 14, 2026 the staff of Our West Bayfront (OWB) and the lead volunteers who worked on the rebuild of that house, opened it up to those who had a hand in helping the project along – to admire the work and to share the exciting future of the home. Nearly three years since the beginning of the project, the staff and board of OWB, the volunteer contractors, elected officials, public partners, funders, neighbors, and community stakeholders, gathered in a fresh, clean, safe, and beautiful home that is the first property to become a part of the budding Community Cornerstone Land Trust and provide the opportunity of homeownership to a family for whom it would otherwise be out of reach.
Neighbors and community stakeholders (including Jeremy Bloeser, executive director of the Erie County Land Bank, pictured right) gathered to listen to remarks from Our West Bayfront Executive Director Gretchen Kerr in the freshly renovated property at 811 W. Seventh St. (Photo: Erin Phillips)
Executive Director Gretchen Kerr commented to the crowd gathered in the home on Tuesday, "This house is more than a renovation project. It is a community build in the truest sense. It represents what can happen when people come together around a shared belief that every block deserves care, every home has value, and every neighbor deserves the opportunity to live in a safe, beautiful, and stable community."
The seed of the idea began with Seph Kumer and First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, who thought the community of the West Bayfront would jump at the opportunity to help out the neighborhood in a very tangible way – and they did. The idea behind this build, which was covered extensively in an Erie Reader story last August, was somewhat akin to Habitat for Humanity – the community volunteers to work on the home, keeping costs down and helping the project remain affordable.
Kerr specifically pointed to the guidance, hard work, and help of a number of folks who were key to the project including OWB staff member Joel Travis, and Dan Pertl before him. Additionally, "Anna (Frantz), Marissa (Litzenberg-Tamulonis), Anna M. (Malinowski), Starla (Cochenour), Dana (Stewart), and others whose daily commitment to the work of community is a true legacy." Kerr, in her remarks, also spent time thanking Tom Alderton, Brett McCorkle, Bren Lindell, and his brother-in-law, Doug Boucher. Alderton has been committed to the project from the very beginning, assisting with floor plans, materials procurement, and guidance. McCorkle, along with his father, contributed hundreds of hours to the home in terms of design, renovations, and advocacy. And Lindell and Boucher, who "have shown up week after week since February 2024, often two to three days per week, right up until just this past week. Together, these two dedicated volunteers contributed approximately 5,000 hours of service to Our West Bayfront between February 2024 and July 2026."
During a recent open house of 811 W. Seventh Street allowed neighbors and community partners to get a first look at the completed work of countless volunteers helping for thousands of hours — before photos were placed throughout the home to get a sense of the scale of work that has been completed. (Photo: Erin Phillips)
"So many hands have shaped this home. Volunteers showed up in the heat. They gave their time. They shared their skills. They cleaned, painted, repaired, carried, built, problem-solved, and kept coming back. You did not just help improve a house – you helped restore dignity to a property, momentum to a block, and hope to a community," Kerr shares. "At Our West Bayfront, we often talk about community-centered revitalization. This project is exactly what that means. It is not revitalization done from a distance – it is neighbors, churches, funders, public partners, skilled tradespeople, and volunteers working side by side to make visible, lasting change."
For more information on Our West Bayfront's projects, to learn how to volunteer, or to make a donation, visit ourwestbayfront.org
Our West Bayfront is participating in Erie Gives Day on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Visit eriegives.org to donate.
