WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – A national service group selected the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and the Trumbull County Land Bank to send a team of volunteers to the city to clean up vacant homes.

Beginning in mid-July, a service group will send eight trained volunteers to work 40 hours a week for six weeks to fix up five abandoned homes to put back on the market.

“They’re working in each house for about a week. Doing everything from painting to changing out doors and hardware, things like that. And they’ll be outside the house doing the landscaping,” said Shawn Carvin, Trumbull County Land Bank’s manager.

After the volunteers’ work is done, a contractor will come in and finish the renovations before putting them back on the market. After they are ready to sell, anyone can buy the homes as long as they agree to live there for five years.

“It will help change some of these houses, and reduce the blight and areas and make it more appeasing to the neighboring properties. I think everyone will be excited about this and it’s a good project for the neighborhoods,” Carvin said.

Because volunteers are helping fix the houses, the Land Bank can sell them at a lower cost. But, just because they are getting free labor, it doesn’t mean they don’t need donations.

“We do have to pay for the materials, so as always we are looking for donations to offset some of our costs and get these homes back to productive use,” Carvin said.

Warren native Paul Clouser donated a truck to help move supplies.

“I’m doing something I should be doing, hopefully other people will feel the same way and also do it,” Clouser said.

Neighbors are happy the homes are finally getting fixed. Not only because they can stop taking care of them, but because it will also help make the neighborhood look better.