Devean George is best known for being a former NBA Star and world Champion. His professional basketball career spanned 11 years after he was drafted by the Lakers in 1999. George retired from the NBA after the 2009-2010 season playing for the Golden State Warriors.

Now George and his childhood friend, architect Jamil Ford, are giving back to their community. George and Ford have teamed up to creating a housing and community development in the area on Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road, North Minneapolis, an area which is known for its high crime and violence rates.

The project was of special importance to the pair as it is located around the street where they grew up, the streets they played on. Not only will the development will include 47 affordable apartment homes, it will also focus on providing the type of amenities that people look for when moving to an area. Most importantly for this community will be a grocery co-op. The grocery co-op is of critical importance because no grocery stores are in the local area.

Other amenities will also be added to the complex to attract families to the area. One such amenity is a dedicated space providing after school activities for children in the neighborhood.

A strong emphasis is being put on giving people quality housing with plenty of space as George believes that having good housing is the key to everything. George believes that good housing is the foundation for anything else that you want to do in life. He says that without stable housing people aren’t worried about education, eating healthy or anything else.

George and Ford say that this is just the beginning and that they plan to build more housing in the area. The pair’s hope is that this project will be a catalyst for change and that it will encourage families from North Minneapolis to come back to the area and to give back to their community.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/hto8zc9