Volunteers help build Habitat for Humanity homes for families from Myanmar

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The sounds of construction filled the air in Milwaukee's Midtown neighborhood Wednesday. 

Volunteers from Komatsu are working to build two houses near 28th and North for a Habitat for Humanity project.

The homes will be for families from Myanmar, where they spent years in refugee camps. 

"When we worked in the Washington Park neighborhood in the previous five years, we have about 200 Habitat families in that neighborhood now," said Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity's Jake Brandt. "We've seen crime decrease 46-percent in the blocks where we've built in that neighborhood, so it's not just about helping families achieve their dreams, but also helping build up the neighborhoods they're living in."

These new homes are part of the "Midtown 100" project. 

Habitat's goal is to build or rehabilitate 100 homes in the neighborhood in three years.