Diamond State CLT’s First Sussex Homes

In June 2017, Charlena Evans became a Diamond State CLT home owner in Ingram Village.

Congratulations to the first three families to become  home owners and Diamond State CLT members in Sussex County!

  1. Dominic Mancuso and David Marsh recently made settlement on our first DSCLT home in Sussex County!
  2. Robert and Carol Van Sciver became the second Diamond State CLT Homeowners in Sussex County shortly thereafter.
  3. And Charlena Evans purchased the third home built by Diamond State CLT in Sussex County at Ingram Village.
Thank You!

It is the fulfillment of a long process for Diamond State CLT to have begun to create permanently affordable homes in Sussex County.

Thanks go to a number of people and organizations:

  • Shannon Carmean Burton, Esq.
  • Delaware State Housing Authority & the Governor’s Council on Housing
  • Deutsche Bank Trust Company
  • Development Committee of the DSCLT Board
  • Discover Bank
  • Meridian Mortgages
  • Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh
  • NCALL Homeownership Programs & Loan Fund
  • Patrick Ryan, AIA
  • Sussex County Council
  • TD Bank
  • The Town of Ellendale
  • University of Delaware Agricultural Extension
  • U&I Builders
  • USDA Rural Development
  • Wakefield Associates
  • WSFS Bank

 

DSHA Funds Rodney Village Homes

Kent County Commissioner Eric Buckson was instrumental in bringing the NSP program to Kent County.

The Housing Development Fund (HDF) of the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) provided additional monies to assist DSCLT homebuyers purchasing homes in Rodney Village.

So far DSCLT has acquired nine homes and rehabilitated six, making them permanently affordable. We are working toward completing at least ten homes in the community.

HDF funding will help make the remaining Rodney Village homes affordable to low-income first-time homebuyers.

Kent County Neighborhood Revitalization Program

The work in Rodney Village has been made possible by Kent County Levy Court which works closely with DSCLT to reinvest program income from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) in Rodney Village.

Other Funders

Additional funds were provided by the Longwood Foundation, Discover Bank, NCALL Loan Fund, Deutsche Bank, the Delaware Community Foundation, and the Laffey-McHugh Foundation.

Rodney Village

Applicants like this diverse, engaged community, which is close to parks, within walking distance of retail, and is in a good school district.

Most of our home buyers find their monthly mortgage payments to be lower than what they were previously paying in rent.

 

We are thankful.

2015-11-24-walls-welcome
Left to right, Shalisa Alexander, is welcomed by Jo Ann Zorb of Diamond State CLT and Mary Ellen Gray of Kent County Planning Department, as is her mother, Francine Walls.

At Thanksgiving 2015, we were happy to announce our newest community land trust members and home owners.

That week, Francine Walls and her daughter, Shalisa Alexander, and grand-daughter, Patience, became the most recent Diamond State CLT home owners.

The family took possession of a home in the Rodney Village neighborhood that was acquired, completely rehabilitated, and sold with the financial support of the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, administered by the Kent County Levy Court.

A grant from the Longwood Foundation and funds from Discover Bank and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware also contributed to making home ownership possible for the Walls family. Project financing came from the NCALL Loan Fund.

Shortly after settlement, the family was visited by the Diamond State Welcome Wagon Committee which brought a house-warming basket, including a fresh turkey generously donated by TA Farms, Camden-Wyoming.

We at Diamond State CLT are grateful to have the Walls family join our CLT community.
We are also grateful to everyone who helped us create this new home and offer it to the Walls family.