Michigan woman rebuilding her hometown one house at a time

ShaWanna Gajewski is rebuilding her hometown of Inkster, Michigan, one house at a time.

Gajewski is the CEO of Gajewski Homes and has more than 20 years of experience building and selling homes. She's also one of the few licensed Black female residential builders in the state.

"I was able to acquire some rental properties, and I had to figure out how to do the work. And so from there, I just found a passion for it. I had to learn how to do the work. I know how to do drywall, flooring, electrical, plumbing, all of that, so I enjoy it," Gajewski said.

Gajewski embraces first-time homebuyer Jalesa Earby.

"Building these houses for families that deserve to be able to achieve home ownership. And that's truly a blessing that you can't even quantify," Gajewski said. 

For Earby, homeownership was unattainable.

"Very much a dream, but a pipe dream, almost, if I'm being transparent," Earby said.

It's no longer a dream; on Tuesday, she signed the papers for this brand-new three-bedroom, two-bathroom house at Annapolis Pointe.

"I drove by here after I got done; I just sat in my car, and I cried for like, probably 15 minutes, and I just thank God that it was happening, just because it felt like it wasn't going to happen," Earby said.

Located near Irene Street and Bridgeport Court, the housing development was abandoned during the housing crisis of 2008.

"Nobody's been able to get the formula together to be able to make it affordable," Gajewski said.

Gajewski says she's figured it out.

"My niche is combining modular construction with traditional stick build. So that way you can control the cost of the build as well as you can minimize the time," Gajewski said.

Her company can build a 1,500-square-foot home in just 90 days.

"Our goal is to have at least 50% of those houses be affordable, providing some type of subsidy to reduce the mortgage payment for home buyers so that they can afford it," Gajewski said.

Next up, the plan is to build two more houses on the vacant lots next to Jalesa's house. The goal is to complete 15 houses total this year.

"She's tenacious. When she starts something, she's going to finish it," Inkster Mayor Byron Nolan said.

The $21 million project will eventually create 72 new houses in Inkster.

"We have a housing shortage right now, as most of Southeastern Michigan does, and this will be a catalyst of bringing attention, bringing other developers to the community," Nolan said.

A community that's growing thanks to Gajewski and her team.

"It was a perfect opportunity to give back to the city that gave so much to me," Gajewski said.

Completing a project and making the impossible possible for so many more families in the future.

"Everything's kind of lined up for me; it kind of felt God-sent. And so, the fact that now I get to be a homeowner is very indescribable," Earby said.