Barry Johnson doesn’t run a backhoe either, but he does drive a street sweeper to make sure there’s no construction debris in front of Pittsburgh Faison K-5 School when the kids get out.
“I was one of the first guys from the community on this job. I’m with Mistick. I was here in November, when it was nothing but dirt and cold. Now that it’s warmer it’s really picking up,” he said. “See those brothers over there on that stoop? I tell them every day they got to get on with Rashad. There’s a better way.”
Syronn Terry, also a laborer for Mistick, said it’s definitely a better way.
“I finished Rashad’s program, and because of that, I got on this job—and with my first couple of paychecks I was able to get my own apartment,” he said. “I wouldn’t have any of that without Rashad.”
As part of the partnership arrangement that won the $11 million federal tax credit to finance the project, every contractor and subcontractor must hire Black men from the community—even if they are a Black-owned firm like Ma’at, the co-general contractor with Mistick, which is doing six of the houses all by itself.
“You won’t see our guys out here either—because we haven’t started yet,” he said.
The homes, some of which will be completed by the end of May, will rent to families with incomes under 50 percent of the area’s median income. The bulk of the homes will be ready for occupancy by summer’s end.
Per the tax credit agreement, the homes will remain rental units for 15 years. After that they will be made available for sale—at well below market rate—with the occupants getting first crack.
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