Affordable Housing Landlord Starts Eviction Fund and is Shocked-Raising $9Mil Kept 3,000 Families in their Homes [goodnewsnetwork.org]

I love Margaret Stagmeier and what she is doing in the world, having seen it first hand and written about her brilliant work.

She’s been working on a book about buying blighted apartment complexes next to “failing schools” and by cleaning up the complexes and making them safe, stable and affordable, she transforms the complex, the school, and the lives of all touched.

As we launch into learning more about the power positive childhood experiences (PCEs) we can learn much from Marjy and her teams who provide them daily to children whose families are lifted up by what she helps to provide in her complexes: free after-school care for the children BY a resident of the complex (kids get their schoolwork done, with help if needed, before parents are home!); medical supports in school-ready checks, vaccines, dental care; community gardens so families can grow their many of own fruits and vegetables, and even sell some, at their complexes’ farmers’ markets; playgrounds where children and parents have the outdoor space to safely socialize and exercise.

In such an environment, where parents don’t have to worry about the rent going up, families enjoy the kind of safety, stability, and support leading to job promotions (parents can focus on work while at work); saving for homes of their own (many renters move from Star-C properties into their own homes!) and improvements in schoolwork, as children have help with homework and a peaceful place and time to get it done.

In addition to the families faring much better, the schools the children attend benefit from the low turnover rate of students, as student transience is one of the prime factors poor school performance.

Best of all? Marjy’s model is scalable, replicable, and she wants to help other landlords, cities, towns to copy what she’s done. I’m about to read a draft of the first couple of chapters of the book she’s writing about her work, and hoping to have published soon. If there is any playbook that can help cities figure out a way to stabilize housing while improving school performance and adding PCEs to the lives of children and positive community experiences to the lives of residents and educators, I believe this will be it.

More to come! And if you know any publishers, please forward this story to them. Marjy’s book to be out in the world, helping others repeat her success at bringing safety, stability, and joy to the lives of people for whom homelessness or the threat of homelessness, is searingly real.

Congrats on the story, Marjy! I hope we celebrate your book launch soon as well.

Carey Sipp

SE Regional Community Facilitator

PACEs Connectiok.