ShawneeDispatch.com

Shawnee — A group of Shawnee citizens have joined a national organization in the effort to preserve affordable homeownership.

On Monday, the group announced the launch of Rebuilding Together Shawnee. The Shawnee-based nonprofit organization is an affiliate of Rebuilding Together, the nation's largest nonprofit organization that works to preserve homeownership and neighborhoods by helping repair homes for low-income families free of charge.

Jeff Bahnson and David Morris, co-presidents of Rebuilding Together Shawnee, have been discussing creating a group for more than a year.

"The numbers are pretty astounding as far as how many people are living below the poverty line; over 1,000 people are living below the poverty line in Shawnee," Bahnson said.

Bahnson said he and Morris knew of many people in Shawnee who needed help repairing their homes. While churches and civic organizations often would team up to work on one house locally, or to build homes in devastated areas like Coffeyville or countries like Guatemala, there was no central organization concerned with homes in Shawnee.

"We saw a lot of people leave Shawnee to do some absolutely wonderful work away from Shawnee, but rarely do we see a concerted effort to help neighbors in Shawnee," Bahnson said.

Bahnson said he and Morris originally planned to create their own group tentatively called "Shawnee Helping Shawnee," but then they learned about Rebuilding Together, which has more than 235 U.S. affiliates.

In the future, Bahnson said the group would like to move out into the whole Johnson County area. Its first project will begin April 26, when the group will gather more than 50 volunteers to work on five Shawnee homes for National Rebuilding Day.

Rebuilding together Shawnee also has received a lot of help in the form of sponsorships. Founding sponsors are Bank Midwest, Country Club Bank, First National Bank of Olathe and Zarda/Rieke Development Corp.

The group also has the support of Shawnee Mayor Jeff Meyers.

Those who know of families who need help with their homes can nominate a home on the group's Web site, www.rebuildingtogethershawnee.org.

"Rebuilding Together Shawnee represents all that is great about the city of Shawnee," Meyers said in a release.