DETROIT, March 15 (UPI) -- An elderly Detroit woman will be returning to the home she was evicted from last year, after volunteers finish rehabilitating the house, officials said.
Texana Hollis, 101, was evicted from her home of nearly 60 years in September after one of her sons failed to pay taxes on a reverse mortgage on the house, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.
Then, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reversed the decision after national news media reported on Hollis' situation, but the agency said in January that the home was unsafe for Hollis to live in.
Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom's S.A.Y. Detroit charity bought the house from HUD for $100 last week and got a green light to rehabilitate the house.
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"We're fixing it up and we're going to give it right back to her, which is where it should've been in the first place," Albom said. He said repairs will cost about $20,000. "It never should've been taken away from her."
Hollis will be able to return to her home in about two weeks, Albom said.
Workers from Tamer Plumbing and Tamer Building, which trains people from Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, donated services to the rehab, The Detroit News reported.
"I'm just so thankful to each and every one of you who had a hand in me getting my house back," Hollis said outside the house on Detroit's west side. "Words can't express how I feel about getting my house back and especially my kitchen. My mother had me cooking when I was 10 years old and I loved it."
