Seaford’s ACE center takes top honors in Stanley contest

Down by 700 votes and in 12^th place, Jim Martin thought there was no way to make up the gap to win a national online Build Your America Stanley Tools contest.

He's first to admit he may have underestimated the tenacity of the people of Sussex County. Martin, executive director of the ACE Peer Resource Center in Seaford, said by the end of voting on Nov. 29, his organization had made up the deficit, recording 1,603 votes to win the $10,000 contest by just 22 votes.

In second with 1,581 votes was a Litchfield, N.H., nonprofit workcamp that repairs houses for people in need.

“It really reached a fever pitch in voting, with 150 votes cast for us in the last three minutes,” he said. “The people of Sussex County are really special. They get what we are trying to do. The people of Sussex County want to be winners.”

Martin started sharing the contest through Facebook Nov. 22. It started out slow, but in the last day the message took hold. “It started to swell – it took on a life of its own,” he said.

He said many organizations and businesses also got behind the effort, including students and faculty at Delaware Technical Community College and the Brick Hotel, both in Georgetown.

Jennie Hammond of Laurel nominated the center for the contest. “She had referred someone in need to us and saw how caring we were to her friend,” Martin said.

Martin said some of the money will be used at the ACE Center, but a large portion will be used to assist other organizations such as the Code Purple program, which provides shelter for homeless people during cold periods. He said some funding will also go to The Cross/Love Inc. homeless program in Seaford to help remodel a donated building.

The ACE Center – the name stands for acceptance, change and empowerment – was one of 124 vetted nonprofit agencies taking part in the online contest. The center has become a one-stop resource for those seeking assistance with housing, job searches, shelter and food. It's also a place where people with addiction and mental illness problems can get referrals. Martin calls the center a re-entry program.

Many of those who come to the center are homeless – a situation Martin is deeply familiar with. After losing his family and business to his addiction to alcohol and drugs, he ended up homeless, living at a Wilmington shelter. Eventually he kicked his addiction, and seven years ago, he ended up in Sussex County at an Oxford House shelter in Lewes. He was so impressed with the success of the program, he started organizing his own shelters for homeless men.

He started working at the ACE Center five years ago, and from there it wasn't long before he became executive director. He's also reconnected with his family.

For more information, go to the center's Facebook page or phone 628-3016.