As longtime homeowner John Brooks said, "We came over here in 1956 and worked the whole year, putting these houses together, all of them. We couldn't go nowhere else." Residents in a near north side neighborhood are worried that plans for a grocery store may displace them.
"The 86-year-old Brooks was part of an innovative housing program that was known as "self-help housing," or sweat equity. It was geared toward African-Americans, who had a tough time getting a traditional mortgage.
By helping to build their house and their neighbors' homes, they qualified for a mortgage without the down payment."
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