At a special open house Tuesday afternoon, Rejuvenate Housing was rejuvenated itself with a $1-million grant from the John Deere Foundation.
Rejuvenate celebrated the completion of its sixth renovated home with a property showcase on Sept. 8 at 613 W. 13th Street, Davenport. The home had been vacant and deteriorating for over 10 years before an extreme makeover, with the help of the city of Davenport’s Extreme Dream program.
Rejuvenate Housing acquires and renovates vacant and distressed homes, making them available to income-qualified, owner-occupant buyers. Each completed home returns a property to productive use and adds to the community’s attainable housing stock.
“Reclaiming a vacant home helps protect the investment neighbors have already made in their properties and creates a new opportunity for somebody to become a homeowner, perhaps for the very first time,” said Rejuvenate’s first executive director, Ami Porter.
This is the first Deere Foundation grant Rejuvenate has received, for $1 million over three years. They were invited by Deere to apply, Porter said.
“That's structured in such a way that we are going to be able to put approximately 21 houses back on the market. And we've been working primarily in Davenport neighborhoods, but this funding may give us the opportunity to work outside of the Gaines Street corridor in Iowa and also possibly do some work over on the Illinois side,” she said earlier Tuesday. “So we're very, very excited about that. It is us being able to amplify what we are able to do with the partners who have already been helping Rejuvenate Housing identify, acquire, and renovate homes.”
This 1,501-square-foot house was built in 1915, and was totally transformed by Rejuvenate, and now available for sale for $170,000. The renovation costs are typically between $130,000 and $230,000, depending on the size of the house and state of disrepair.
The resurrected West 13th Street house (two stories, with three bedrooms, and two baths, including a large second-story bathroom with washer and dryer) was not a full gut rehab, but close, Porter said.
“Everything in the house, with the exception of some walls and trims and bathroom fixtures in this particular property, was a full gut rehab. So all new mechanicals, siding, roofing, windows, HVAC, plumbing. countertops, fixtures, flooring, just about anything that you can think of has been replaced in the house with the exception of some quality drywall and plasterwork that was already in place,” she said.
Rejuvenate was formed in January 2021 (Porter was hired as the first director in January 2025), and this is the sixth home it’s remodeled and returned to market.
“We have four homes that are right now in some state of, we've acquired them and they're in some state of rehabilitation,” she said earlier Tuesday. “So we have one that's under construction, one that we have an approved contractor on, one that we're closing on the 15th, and one that I have a verbal agreement to purchase.”
All the previous five homes have sold, Porter said, to income-qualified buyers (80% of area median income).
“We are asking the home buyers to sign a 5-year covenant agreeing to stay in the home for a minimum of 5 years,” she said. “In so doing, we're really hoping to really establish that sort of pride of ownership and pride in the neighborhood and a desire for folks to stay and live and thrive in the neighborhoods.”
Other Rejuvenate homes have sold for $160,000 and $175,000, with the new one asking $170,000.
“So we're keeping the houses priced within comparables within the market of where the homes are located,” Porter said. “It's very important to us that these homes remain affordable to help address the shortage of affordable houses that we have in the Quad-City area.”
Working together to restore homes
This home’s transformation was made possible through support from the city of Davenport’s Extreme Dream Program, the Quad Cities Housing Council and many other community partners, businesses and individuals who contributed time, resources and expertise to the project. “This house shows how much more we can do when we work together to restore neighborhoods while helping address the growing need for attainable housing,” Porter said.
Extreme Dream is an extension of the Davenport Dream Project that is designed to rehab vacant and abandoned homes into owner occupied residences in the Central City. The Extreme Dream Project offers a dollar for dollar match up to $100,000 for qualifying expenses.
In order for a property to qualify as eligible for an application to Extreme Dream, the home must meet the following two qualifications:
- vacant for at least six months
- have severe code violations
Following renovations, the home must either be owner-occupied or sold to an owner occupant.
“The Extreme Dream program is fabulous,” Porter said, adding it helps her group accomplish more. “It is $100,000 of funding, and it is a situation where it is a match. So for every dollar that we put in, up to $100,000, the city will match.”
“There are properties that would be normally out of reach, because of the scope of the work that needs to be completed and the amount of money that a nonprofit could put into that house to complete that work,” she said of how the city support helps make dream a reality.
Porter said earlier that there are 150 houses in this Gaines Street corridor that have been identified vacant or abandoned and in need of repair.
"So they've been without sewer or water for 6 months and they have severe code violations. Those are the homes that qualify for Extreme Dream funding," she said.
“It's really an effort of the city working with nonprofits and others to be able to identify owners of these homes and acquire the homes and put them back into productive use in the neighborhoods,” Porter said, “because there's such a shortage of affordable homes and there are so many vacant homes available to be rehabbed that it makes great sense to be able to do the rehabilitation and put them back into inventory for families.”
Rejuvenate helps create a ripple effect, to help reinvigorate neighborhoods and raise neighboring property values.
“We have just had such positive response in the neighborhoods from the neighbors and from people who are interested in purchasing the homes,” Porter said. “We're always so excited when the first day the home goes on the market and we've got people who are interested.”
“We feel like in general the homes visually, they indicate a level of care in the neighborhood that shows that the neighborhoods are worth investing in, they are important neighborhoods, they are not forgotten neighborhoods,” she added. “And we do know that raising up one house sometimes encourages people around to also improve their homes. And the Dream program is a great option for that because homeowners can apply for Dream funding and then they can improve their homes as well.”
Making dreams a reality
Bruce Berger, director, community and economic development for the city of Davenport, said at Tuesday’s open house: “And with this announcement, we're going to need some more Extreme Dream dollars, actually. It's running out,” he said.
“We really appreciate all the work. The Extreme Dream is kind of where I think Rejuvenate has really kind of found their niche in creating homeownership in an abandoned house,” Berger said. “It's expensive. There's no other way to get through it. And they've had the patience to be able to dig through that.”
Extreme Dream has been going three and a half years, originally funded with $2.1 million, Berger said. The match is open to any homeowner, builder or developer, he said.
“What we find though is that with Extreme Dream, it's easy to step into ownership of an abandoned house,” Berger said.
“There's a lot to be done, a lot of expertise, a lot of different trades and contractors, even if you're doing some of the work yourself. So it's not to say that a homeowner couldn't do it. I think we could, but generally speaking, it may end up being kind of those medium-sized developers, builders types.”
The program has helped seven home projects, and four more are in progress, he said.
Rejuvenate is important to support in “the multifaceted way this type of project impacts the neighborhood, and the city,” Berger said. “It might have been a rental before, or it might have been abandoned. So ownership alone, that could be one thing that's often changing with those houses. Second thing is obviously the block itself. That was the detriment.
“It might have actually prevented other people from just buying a decent house on the block because, oh gosh, what's going on with that one, right?” he said. “So that helps the neighborhood out immensely. And all the things in between that too. I mean, people start talking with each other. They start fixing up their houses because that one that used to be the dog on the block, now you have a little bit of confidence, suddenly I want my house to look nice.”
For more information and criteria on Extreme Dream, click HERE.
Gwen Tombergs, founding board member of Rejuvenate Housing, said the organization started from a 2020 discussion with former Davenport Mayor Ed Winborn and Don Decker.
Winborn had bought his parents' house where he grew up, on 14th Street, and he thought they should start rejuvenating these neighborhoods.
“So five of us -- Don, Ed, myself, Curt Beason and Gene Meeker — sat down and created a board,” Tombergs recalled Tuesday.
“But you don’t do it without a lot of people believing in your mission, starting with creating a really strong board,” she said. “I am so proud that we have one of the best, strongest working boards that a person can put together. And then, obviously followed by the city of Davenport Extreme Dream. We could not do it without their dollars.”
“We never could have even dreamed between the city of Davenport and some of our grants, our funders, our donors, especially Bechtel Trusts,” Tombergs said, noting they helped Rejuvenate hire its first full-time executive director. “Then we had the right person in the right place, to take us to a new level.”
“When a major organization like the John Deere Foundation invests in us, we know that Don Decker is saying, we made it," she added, her voice breaking. Decker passed away in March 2021.
Deere Foundation support
The Deere funding will support Rejuvenate Housing's work to renovate 21 vacant and distressed homes in Davenport and make them available to low- and moderate-income families. The effort is expected to generate more than $12 million in economic activity while helping families put down roots in local neighborhoods.
The investment is supporting both the Regional Momentum project, a community-wide effort launched in the spring focused on addressing homelessness, and the Signature Project focused on transforming affordable housing in the Quad Cities.
"Housing is one of the most important foundations for a strong community," said Taryn Edgin, president of the John Deere Foundation. "When families have a safe, affordable place to call home, neighborhoods are stronger and communities can thrive. We're proud to support a partnership that is creating more opportunities for families while helping move the Quad Cities forward."
Rejuvenate Housing works to bring vacant homes back to life and turn them into affordable homeownership opportunities for local families. The organization's work helps improve neighborhoods and create pathways to long-term housing stability.
The project brings together public and private partners to make homeownership more attainable. The John Deere Foundation, Quad Cities Housing Council, and other partners help fund the remainder of each renovation, creating a model that stretches community resources and increases impact.
"This investment shows what can happen when organizations come together around a shared goal," Ami Porter of Rejuvenate said. “By combining city resources with private support, we're helping more families become homeowners while strengthening neighborhoods across Davenport."
The grant is part of John Deere's broader commitment to the Quad Cities. Over the past six years, John Deere and the John Deere Foundation have invested more than $35 million in the region to support community development, education, workforce readiness, food security, and quality of life initiatives.
That includes a long partnership with Habitat for Humanity QC, with more than $6 million contributed over the past five years.
“The John Deere Foundation is extremely excited to be here today, one, just to tour this beautiful home,” Edgin said at Tuesday’s event. “I mean, it is breathtaking, and the pictures before and after are incredible. But to announce this 3-year partnership, we are really excited, and we think it's a very meaningful partnership because it's the city, it is this wonderful organization, and then funders like us get to come to the table and bring more houses online to support the affordable housing crisis situation we have in the country.”
Housing is an important issue for Deere mainly to meet employee needs, Edgin said.
“They live and work and raise their families in these communities. And imagine trying to keep people here or attract people to this location to work, and then they come here and they can't find affordable housing,” she said.
“The housing situation's impacting not just our employees, but think about teachers, think about anyone who is in that AMI level where that housing is a challenge for their income. So we need healthy people throughout our community who can afford safe and stable housing.”
As QC leaders work together to address housing challenges and reduce homelessness, the foundation's investment reflects a shared belief that strong communities start with stable housing and opportunities for families to succeed.
Habitat and Rejuvenate are the first two local housing nonprofits the foundation has contributed to directly, Edgin said.
“Our portfolio has been really Habitat-focused for years, and that's why this is so exciting because we get to try a different model in the community that actually can bring on more houses more quickly,” she said. “We see these as being very complementary in serving the community because Habitat builds new homes, and Rejuvenate rehabilitates offline units. So you need both models.”
Both nonprofits also serve to make it easier for first-time homebuyers to afford their own home, Edgin said.
“This one is a market-rate home. Habitat's is sweat equity,” she said. “They're very different models in terms of what they have to contribute to the clientele.”
She first met Porter in April at the two-day regional momentum effort to solve the region’s affordable housing crisis.
“We’re very interested in this,” Edgin said. “Stable housing is a huge element. There are many solutions on the spectrum of homelessness and we’re looking at how do we partner and invest?”
“It’s solvable,” she said. “If we can get enough people together, we can solve it. It’s not unsurmountable. That’s what stood out to me.”
Changing neighborhoods and lives
“It's a very heartwarming connection to improve a neighborhood and change lives,” Porter said. “One of the other great things about these homes is in most cases, there's been extensive rehab to the point where major things that could go wrong with the house, such as your HVAC systems, or if you would have trouble at all, trouble with electric or anything like that, those systems have been completely replaced. So a person's hope is that the house remains kind of maintenance-free for a while.”
“We are not doing this work alone,” Porter emphasized of needed partnerships to do the work. “There are so many people that are helping us with this, and together we are doing so much more than we could possibly do alone. So we are extremely thankful. For all of the support in this work and the people that are working on the entire housing continuum from those who are unhoused all the way up to those folks who are ready for homeownership.”
Rejuvenate started along West 13th and West 17th streets—just south of Locust Street and east of Gaines. “By starting here, we can build on the momentum of private investment already taking place and add to the positive change that’s underway,” its website says.
For income levels and buyer requirements, visit the Rejuvenate site HERE.
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