Local realtor hopes to expand housing for Burmese community
- jerrystarks9
- Jun 28, 2024
- 2 min read
FORT WAYNE, Ind.- (WANE) – The Burmese population in Indiana is among the highest in the country and as their community continues to grow, the more housing is needed. Local realtor and Fort Wayne native Jerry Starks said as he’s grown up here he’s seen more and more Burmese refugees moving to town. Now he has relationships with a lot of them.
“I built up a trust factor. When one family buys a home, they’ll send the next family, the next family, then the next family. So if someone gives to you there’s always a good reason to give back,” he said.
He will do that in a pretty big way. He bought land to build a 6 home subdivision. Everyone is welcome but he’s specifically reaching out to the Burmese community.
“They treat you very pleasant. You know, sometimes America or the communities in general separate each other,” he said.
The building space will be around 15 to 17 hundred square feet. Located off Seddlemeyer Avenue, it’s an area a lot of Burmese families already live in. But he hopes offering more homes will help more people and unite everyone.
“They have united and they still have that type of aspect where they share among each other and they communicate with one another and they stay close knit and they support each other,” he said.
A Burmese realtor told NewsChannel15 she agrees this is a good location as well because a new mosque was just built down the road. This subdivision will have the special name ‘NayPyiTaw.’ It’s a token to the Burmese people that symbolizes hope. There are still some plans to finalize by the end of February but the hope is to break ground shortly after that.
The first Burmese came to Fort Wayne in 1991. For a look at the history of their move here, click here.