in the past six years in idora, 137 abandoned homes have been demolished, 35 homes have been renovated and sold, and 88 occupied homes have been repaired. >> this was a house we fixed, too. >> reporter: today, the occupancy rate of this stripped down, rebuilt neighborhood is 93%. >> wait till you see it. it's pretty awesome. >> reporter: beniston showed me one more feature he's using as a selling point for idora, this natural waterfall right in the middle of city. >> we had nine vacant homes right by this. yeah, but not anymore. >> reporter: brownlee woods is another neighborhood where the y.n.d.c. works. nancy martin and her husband russell have lived here since 1982 and over the years watched people leave as their neighborhood declined. >> we can do one of two things. you can either sit here on the and do something., or you get >> these are the benches we just put in. >> reporter: she's president of her neighborhood association and meets regularly with the y.n.d.c., which also helps residents develop their own neighborhood action plans. >> they bring a list of all the houses that we'