The Detroit Free Press has reported on a second winner of the city’s Write A House (WAH) program. The program is essentially a writing contest where the winner gets a free house. WAH raised the money to purchase and rehab the house. Then people from all over the country submitted their written entries (220 total), which were judged.
The latest winner, Liana Aghajanian (a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist), has never even been to Detroit, and now she finds herself as a new resident of the Rust Belt City that has been down on its luck for years. I love the whole idea behind this sort of urban marketing stunt. It’s ideas and concepts such as the WAH initiative that can help to revitalize a city one person at a time.
Yes, the house is free, but the buzz generated by the program is priceless. Aghajanian is looking at the move as an adventure, and who doesn’t love a fun adventure? I bet that she will be the type of person who will draw others to her side – just as we saw a similar spirit in this young woman who drove across country (to Buffalo from San Diego) in search of her own dreams of living in a city that would afford her to make a stand, a living and eventually own a property.
This is the second time that a WAH winner has been selected, and while that might not seem like a big deal to some, it’s amazing what one talented, motivated person can do to help turn around a neighborhood and a city.
Click here to learn more about the WAH program.