b'Marva HammondPresident, Southbridge Community Services, Inc.Southbridge Community Services (SBCS) was the creation of the father and daughterWe were met with questions and concerns, which we addressed. Prior to final team Charlie Falletta and Marva Hammond. Charlie has always had an interestacquisition of the property, we needed to apply for a zoning variance from the City in making the world a better place and believes that if everyone does just a littleof Wilmington, and were honored that several SB residents attended the meeting bit, then people as a collaborative can make the world a better place. Charlie is anand spoke in favor of our project.entrepreneur and philanthropist and has an interest in cleaning up the earth and making it that better place. We were granted the variance and thought we would go full force into making our dream a reality, but as everyone knows, 2020 was the year that COVID all but Marva has spent most of her career in the housing arena and has worked to educatestopped everything.Delaware residents in everything related to safe, stable, and affordable housing. She has worked as a housing counselor and most recently for the Delaware StateAfter a lot of hard work, time, and energy, we finalized phase one of our project and Housing Authority.currently have 10 efficiency units that have been rented out to New Castle HOPE Center Seniors and Senior Veterans who are experiencing homelessness. In early Both Charlie and Marva recognize that, for low-income individuals, finding safe andOctober 2023, we celebrated the grand opening of new office space for First State affordable housing in Delaware is a huge challenge. If you are a senior trying toCommunity Action Agency. In our phase two plans, we are installing solar panels live off a pension or Social Security, the soaring cost of rent makes finding a rentalto the exterior of the building and are in negotiations with Del-One FCU to occupy unit almost impossible. We believe that Delaware needs to protect their vulnerablespace in our building to address the banking desert initiative in Southbridge. In population, and although we are not able to build enough units to house everyoneaddition to this, we will be adding10 more efficiency units to house senior veterans in need of safe and affordable housing, we are doing our part to offer housingexperiencing homelessness. opportunities for some.We hope that our endeavors and experience building this project will inspire other investors to create affordable housing. Marva wasOur intent is to not only address the lack of affordable housing but also bring fortunate enough to participate in the Jumpstart Wilmington course and has utilizedvaluable resources to the community where SBCS resides.the knowledge and the contacts from that course to navigate the ins and outs of this project.We were two novice individuals with a vision and a dream, and it took us three years, but we have been able to make that dream to create safe and affordable SBCS is a 501(c)(3) In early 2020, we purchased an old, blighted factory inhousing opportunities a reality.Wilmingtons Southbridge (SB) neighborhood. Prior to purchasing the building, we met with the SB civic association to present them with our plan to change the building into a mixed-use property, with multiple efficiency-style apartment units and space for a potential restaurant or business.Delaware Three Rivers Area Economic Development Master Plan 173'