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“Housing I believe is the foundation to do whatever you want to do,” says Devean George of a passion project to bring about positive change. The retired NBA star teamed with his childhood friend to develop affordable housing in the North Minneapolis neighborhood where he grew up.

Reports CBS Minnesota:.

A high-traffic area known for violence and crime is being converted into a place where people can live, shop and thrive in the heart of North Minneapolis. The corner of Penn Avenue and Golden Valley Road will soon be home to 47 affordable apartment homes.

George is the force behind the movement to make positive change in a neighborhood where people deal constantly with life’s challenges. “If you don’t have stable housing, you’re not worried about education, you’re not worried about eating healthy, you’re not worried about anything else,” George said.

George knows the plight of the people in this community because this is where he is from.

His father lives two blocks away from the project.

He and his childhood friend, architect Jamil Ford, dreamed about and are now making reality. “We grew up here,” George said. “We grew up together. We grew up on these streets. We grew up on these corners. We grew up catching the bus right here. So this is kind of a special project to us.”

People here have to travel miles to a grocery store. That’s why the project includes a grocery co-op.

For George, this is all about creating a space where people can have the amenities needed to thrive.“That’s what people look for when they go live in a neighborhood,” George said. “Where’s my grocery store? Where is my movie theater? Where can we go eat? Where can our kids go play at a park? And this was just a place where there is just housing.”

George says giving people space to live was important.“Nice space, obviously,” George said. “If I can’t reach the ceiling, we got room.”

The entire first floor is dedicated to after-school programs for children who live here.

“This is just the start,” George said. “This is just the catalyst of everything that’s going to go on.”

George and Ford say they have plans to build more in this neighborhood.

George introduced the housing plan after retiring in 2012. The 38-year-old, three-time NBA champion, formerly played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Golden State Warriors.

Photo: screenshot