Cherleu Seizem and her two young daughters were hard at work cleaning up what was left of their house in the Solino neighborhood in Port-au-Prince to see if she could leave the shelter and go back home.

Gangs seized control of the area for almost a year only to abruptly leave in recent weeks as they encouraged residents to return.

Many Haitians are anxious to flee crowded and dangerous shelters and want to either rebuild their shattered communities or recover what’s left of their home and belongings.

Police have told Haitians that it’s not safe to do so, but hundreds of people are ignoring the warnings.

Being able to return home is a rare opportunity in a capital nearly entirely controlled by gangs.

The sound of shovels scraping against asphalt echoed in western Port-au-Prince this month as hundreds of people cleaned their communities and shuffled their feet or ran their hands through mounds of ashes that once were books, clothes, photo albums and furniture.

Neighborhoods like Solino, Nazon and Delmas 30 became ghost towns after gangs razed them in November, forcing thousands to flee.

In August, Jimmy Chérizier, a leader of a gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm that was blamed for last year’s attacks, repeatedly stressed that it was safe to return home.

Few people believed him at first, but then small groups began tentatively entering their old neighborhoods.

One recent day, Gerald Jean fished for 50 cents in his pants - the only money he had that day - and bought a small bag of corn chips. It was his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Once the proud owner of a funeral home, a hardware store, a botanica and eight homes in Solino, he now is homeless and without a job.

Gangs set fire to his buildings in mid-November, forcing him and his family to flee.

“I have been left with only a pair of pants and sandals,” he said.

Nearby, Marie-Marthe Vernet shuffled through a thick rug of ashes inside her home.

68-year-old Vernet had not returned since gunmen shot her in the back last year as she fled.

“There is no way I will return to live here. I am not going to live with Viv Ansanm,” she said.

The fall of Solino, Nazon, Delmas 30 and other nearby communities was a blow to Haiti’s psyche and a triumph for Viv Ansanm, a gang coalition that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

Yet it’s still not clear why Viv Ansanm pulled out of those neighborhoods, but it’s possible gangs needed their manpower and firepower elsewhere, or, they want to form an alliance with vigilante groups to overthrow the government.

The arrival of explosive drones manned by armed forces also likely interrupted the gangs’ plans.

But gang violence already has displaced a record 1.3 million people, with many living in dilapidated shelters.

Undeterred, some Haitians continue to return to communities like Solino.

“Here is the oven, but they couldn't take it, so they took the motor,” said Louisnor Felix, a bakery manager, as he walked in what was left of the business.

AP video by Pierre Luxama.