Becoming the Beloved Community

Becoming the Beloved Community

Annual Report 2017-2018

The Beloved Community

Mission

Metanoia Community Development Corporation is a movement of people, rooted in

faith. We invest in neighborhood assets to build leaders, establish quality housing and

generate economic development. We are pushing forward into new relationships with

God and one another to create strong communities.

Kasita Coleman-Allen

Anton Gunn

Jay Kieve

Charlie Larsen

Kelly Lucas

Penelope Middleton

Jeffrey Stanton

Debra Stewart

Ida Taylor

Ayesha Washington

BETTER BLOCK

REYNOLDS AVENUE

Vision

Metanoia envisions a diverse community of people that are inspired and empowered

to make the community better for generations to come; where quality housing and

livable wage jobs are accessible to all; where there are academically achieving schools;

where businesses and faith communities benefit the community; where the quality of

life includes green space and recreational opportunities; and where Reynolds Avenue is

a hub of economic and social activities. We recognize the people of our community are

essential to the accomplishment of this vision.

/MetanoiaSC

Board of

Directors

@pushing_forward

Annual Report 2017-2018

/MetanoiaCDC

Metanoia Community

Development Corporation

2005 Reynolds Avenue

North Charleston, SC 29405

t: (843) 529-3014

f: (843) 529-3639



¡°Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well

as a quantitative change in our lives.¡±~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Hello Metanoia Family,

Welcome to Metanoia¡¯s Annual Report. We prepare these reports each year because we believe that our supporters,

partners and friends deserve to know what their support is doing at Metanoia. They are also an opportunity for us

to take stock on the year gone by and what lies ahead.

It has been another year of significant growth at Metanoia. We are adding projects, staff and infrastructure at

a fast clip. Not only do we continue offering year-round leadership development programming for youth but we

have grown our affordable housing and economic development efforts. We are also making significant progress

on our largest project to date, the adaptive re-use of the 59,000 square foot former Chicora Elementary School.

It is tempting in all of this doing to lose sight of what we are being and becoming at Metanoia. So even as we

grow programs and projects we are also taking time to remind ourselves of the deep values and higher visions that

inform our work. Perhaps no idea is better suited to our ultimate destination at Metanoia than the idea of ¡°the

Beloved Community¡± put forth by Dr. Martin Luther King.

The Beloved community occurs anywhere that people live in harmony and equity with one another. It is a beautiful

destination filled with love and it was a fundamental focus of Dr. King¡¯s life and work. At Metanoia, we¡¯ve been

talking a lot about the Beloved Community over the past year. On our best days we hope that we are an outpost

that manifests the Beloved Community in our neck of North Charleston.

As you review the work of the past year, we invite you to consider our accomplishments and also the deeper roots

of our work in faith, hope and love. As always, we remain grateful for your support and help in making Metanoia

happen all year long!

Rev. Bill Stanfield

Metanoia CEO

Ayesha Washington

Metanoia Board Chair

Our Beloved Community

1

Homes for our Neighbors

One aspect of the Beloved Community is inclusiveness. With investment and

speculation increasing in our area, we are keenly aware it is the time to act on

a comprehensive approach to maintain our community¡¯s unique identity, avoid

displacement, and secure the integrity of our community-building efforts.

Metanoia has worked with partners like the Lowcountry Alliance for Model

Communities, the National Fair Housing Alliance and Ingevity corporation

to acquire property that maintains affordable housing in our community.

Baxter Street Before

Baxter Street in Progress

Norwood Street New Homes

2

This year we completed three units of quality affordable housing on Norwood

and Redwood streets in our neighborhood and we began construction on

another three units. We are now renovating a duplex on Carlton street for

quality affordable rental and a home on Baxter Street that will one day be

sold to a homeowner. Metanoia also received the good word from the South

Carolina Housing Finance and Development Authority that we are fully

funded to build another four new homes in our neighborhood in the year

ahead. Special thanks as well to Ms. Linda Ketner whose generous gift

helped to further improve the quality and facilitate the construction of all of

these units.

The ultimate success of this plan will be judged years in the future when

people visit our community and see a new possibility emerged for a positive,

mixed-income community where everyone benefits from new investment.

This will serve as a powerful counter-narrative to the existing pattern of rapid

gentrification in Charleston communities.

Carlton Duplex Before

Annual Report 2017-2018

Carlton Duplex In Progress

Our Owner Occupied and Emergency Repair Programs

help neighbors like Ms. Dottie Jones maintain their most significant

asset; their home. Ms. Jones maintained a fulltime position while

raising her four children and caring for her elderly mother who had

dementia. Metanoia worked in conjunction with the City of North

Charleston¡¯s Owner Occupied Repair Program to fix her roof and

repair faulty electrical and plumbing in her home. For a sustainable

community, helping neighbors keep and maintain their homes is vital.

Land Banking

In an attempt to stay ahead of rising property costs in our

neighborhood, Metanoia has partnered with groups like the

Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities to purchase

land for future affordable housing development. This year we

also received a $350,000 grant from SC Housing Finance and

Development Authority to purchase and demolish ten vacant and

abandoned properties in our community that were condemned.

The properties were purchased and demolished in partnership

with the City of North Charleston. The resulting cleared lots

are being held by Metanoia for future affordable housing in our

neighborhood. To the right is one property that was demolished

and the resulting green space created for future quality, affordable

housing in our neighborhood. By land banking properties we are

helping maintain housing in our community that is attainable to our

neighbors even as property values rise as the result of gentrification.

Our Beloved Community

3

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