First City Progress: Purpose Built Community bringing childhood learning center to Eastside

The Eastside Purpose Built Community is a hyperlocal project aimed at building holistic and transformational opportunities into neighborhoods that have experienced multigenerational poverty and disinvestment. Nearly 30 Purpose Built Communities exist around the country.

"And it's really built around having complete strategies for offering, within a neighborhood... mixed-income housing, health and wellness, and cradle-to-college quality education. So that was our marching order," said Jeff Kole, a local property manager who has served on the Eastside PBC advisory board since its founding in 2016. (Full disclosure: Kole also serves on Savannah Morning News' community advisory board.)

To achieve these goals, East Savannah United (the advisory board turned nonprofit that is guiding the overall process) has spent the past five years planning what will be built on the nine-acre plot off Wheaton Street, across from Chatham County Department of Family and Children's Services, and just behind Randy's Bar-B-Q.

The first phase will include a sales tax-funded early learning center that can accommodate up to 150 children. The learning center also will include a small library branch. It will be followed by a number of other facilities that are part of the public-private partnership. The YMCA of Coastal Georgia will build a fitness and recreation center. Goodwill Southeast Georgia is using funds donated by MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to partially fund a Jobs Center.

In 2019, Chatham County voters approved the seventh round of SPLOST (special-purpose local option sales tax) funds. The Eastside PBC's early learning center was earmarked for $6 million on the list of approved projects. The library will be built using Chatham County funds. The YMCA and Goodwill still need to raise private funds, Kole said.

"And after they get the degree, they would have the ability to take jobs certificate programs offered by Savannah Technical College for high-demand, sustainable wage local jobs," Kole added about the Goodwill Jobs Center.

The tentative timeline for completion of the site is Spring 2024, Kole said.

Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Savannah's PBC will target neighborhoods on and around Wheaton Street, Kole explained, particularly the Housing Authority of Savannah's Hitch Village. There are several public housing units in the area, including River Pointe Homes and The View at Oglethorpe. Although the nine-acre tract where the PBC will be built is owned by the Housing Authority, it will be leased by the county and subleased by the individual tenants.

Kole said East Savannah United hopes to hire a full-time executive director by April. It's an all-volunteer operation at present. The group is also working to privately raise $250,000 a year for the first three years of construction, most of which will be used to operate the nonprofit. The nonprofit will act as a pseudo-project manager, or "quarterback," for the community, which will involve many nonprofit, private and public partners.

'It takes time, but it works'

Purpose Built Communities are a national designation given to select projects to revitalize low-income urban neighborhoods by fueling investment through resources and access. The ultimate goal is to encourage the development of a mixed-income neighborhood, where families of all backgrounds, financial backgrounds and education levels can co-exist.

Credit: Provided

Credit: Provided

The original PBC concept was born in Atlanta, where the nonprofit network's headquarters remain. The first project redeveloped the East Lake Community in Atlanta into a mixed-income community with 650 housing units, a revitalized public golf course, K-12 charter school, YMCA and early childcare center.

Savannah's project makes it the fifth Georgia PBC to be built, three are in Atlanta and one is in Columbus. The nonprofit was founded by billionaires Warren Buffet, Tom Cousins and Julian Robertson.

"Their idea was 'How do you redevelop communities in cities where there has been real challenges? How will you address the needs for health, equity and sustainability?" explained Lauren Chambers, the CEO of Columbus' PBC, The Mill District.

The Mill District in Columbus' encapsulates four historic mill village neighborhoods. Chambers was brought on board last June to develop the project, which hopes to revitalize mill neighborhoods that have been economically depressed and crime-ridden for decades.

Credit: Provided

Credit: Provided

Like all PBCs, the tenants of the Mill District's plan include racial equity, health and economic mobility. The Mill District partners with the local health clinic is constructing an early childhood learning center, as well. Chambers said they're also working with local partners to rehabilitate single-family homes for affordable living.

Chambers said the work to revitalize a neighborhood will take years, especially if communities are untrusting of outside organizations.

"It takes time, but it works," Chambers said. "You're breaking generational poverty, that's a lot.

Investment takes time

Savannah is no different in its far-reaching timeline.

"The tough thing is, there has been low investment in these neighborhoods for many, many years," Kole explained. "So, it's going to take at least five or 10 years to invest the fund and turn them into healthy neighborhoods."

Kole said the project's initial idea came from "the recognition that Savannah is a very giving community... at the same time, in certain neighborhoods, poverty has been off the charts for multiple generations."

Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News

Poverty in Savannah has been passed down as if it were an inheritance. While Census data estimates about 25% of the city's population lives in poverty, a 2021 survey from local nonprofit StepUp Savannah found a more detailed glance at low-wealth families in the city.

For example, two-thirds of low- and middle-income (LMI) families in Savannah do not have access to reliable transportation, and many don't have WIFI or internet access. LMI is designated for Census tracts where at least half of households in the area fall under 50% of the area's median income. In Savannah, half of the AMI is about $21,000 a year, according to 2019 Census data.

In the neighborhoods near the PBC property, poverty levels exceed 25% of the population and 70% of the community is Black, according to Census tract data.

Zoe covers growth and how it impacts communities in the Savannah area. Find her at znicholson@gannett.com, @zoenicholson_ on Twitter, and @zoenicholsonreporter on Instagram. 

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: First City Progress: Purpose Built Community bringing childhood learning center to Eastside