RALEIGH – “It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” said Sondra Collins, Southeast Raleigh Promise board chair, Friday morning. 

The official groundbreaking ceremony of 25 units of mixed-income affordable rentals took place on Gregg Street in Southeast Raleigh.

“Laws alone don’t fulfill promises. People do,” Collins said. “Access to safe, affordable housing is still out of reach for way too many families. That reality calls for more than reflection. It calls for commitment.”

SERP is a nonprofit organization whose work is guided by four pillars: cradle to career education, economic mobility, health and well-being, and real estate and mixed-income housing. The rentals are Wake County’s first Purpose Built Communities, joining 15 other communities like it in the nation.

SERP celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year. “This is what it looks like to carry the promise forward, intentionally and together,” Collins said.

CEO Yvette Holmes is a Southeast Raleigh native. The groundbreaking was personal for her. When welcomed to the podium, Holmes received a standing ovation. “This is an answer to my prayers,” she said.

The $7.6 million project was funded through the city of Raleigh, Wake County, the Low Income Investment Fund and Southeast Raleigh Promise. The units are available to tenants earning 30% to 60% area median income, or between $600 to $1,800 monthly rent, and include one single-family home, duplexes and accessory dwelling units within walking distance of downtown Raleigh. 

“Everything we do here, we do in partnership,” Holmes said. SERP was birthed out of making sure that “Southeast Raleigh doesn’t get overlooked.” The organization works closely with Advance Community Health, the Southeast Raleigh YMCA, Southeast Raleigh Elementary and Self-Help Credit Union.

“The secret sauce is that it’s all centered around community. Residents are the center,” Holmes said. “We talk about empowering; we don’t do any empowering, it’s really unlocking that which the residents already have and what they know.”

Approximately 60 people move to Wake County every day. Southeast Raleigh is changing, so SERP ensures its residents are involved in the decision-making, Holmes said. “Folks that I talk to, they don’t say they want to oppose change, they just want to be a part of it.” 

Holmes said that fulfilling SERP’s mission involves attracting people to Southeast Raleigh. 

The event also featured a “vendor village,” which included free samples of handmade home goods and hors d’oeuvres from small businesses along the Rock Quarry Road Corridor. SERP offers a Rock Quarry Road Corridor Small Business Mini-Grant in amounts up to $2,000 to sustain local businesses. 

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