Allan Tibbels died of multiple organ failure early Thursday. He was a founder and elder in a Presbyterian Church in America’s New Song Community Church

Allan Tibbels, the force behind Sandtown Habitat for Humanity for nearly 21 years, died of multiple organ failure early Thursday at Mercy Medical Center. The former Howard County resident was 55 and lived on Stricker Street.

Mr. Tibbels, a quadriplegic who worked from a wheelchair, helped hundreds of families buy their own homes in the poor West Baltimore neighborhood. Under his direction, the group renovated or built 276 homes and a school, health center, job-placement program and church.

The effort attracted scores of volunteers over the years during a summer building week. During the event, about 300 volunteers from the Baltimore region and the East Coast hammer, put up drywall and paint as they help build homes for low-income Sandtown residents.

A 2007 Baltimore Sun story said that the homeownership rate rose from 18 percent to more than 30 percent. The price of a home climbed from about $20,000 to $75,000 or more and the neighborhood revitalization grew to more than 15 square blocks.

“It’s wonderful that’s happened around us because otherwise we’d have this island of home ownership,” Mr. Tibbels said of the expansion of his program in 2007. “And now it’s growing.”

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