Community center next step for Pallet Village

Margaret Carter had been living in a tent encampment in the woods off Douglas Street in Georgetown for years when Mayor Bill West came along and encouraged her and about 40 other people to move into the Pallet Village within the town.

Carter, 64, was homeless after being kicked out of her apartment. She took West’s advice and moved to one of the 64-square-foot shelters in the Pallet Village off Kimmey Street that provide transitional housing when they opened Jan. 3, 2023.

Come spring, Carter and the other residents will have use of a community center, which is now being constructed on the property. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Nov. 22, to mark the start of construction across a parking lot from the 40 brightly colored residences.

That is welcome news for Carter, one of those in attendance, who said she is looking for long-term housing, then a part-time job.

“It will give us more to do,” she said of the community center project after the brief ceremony under an overcast sky.

Leaders of the Pallet Village housing project, service providers and community leaders gathered in a parking lot next to the site where the concrete footers for the 2,000-square-foot building had already been poured. A row of gold-colored shovels rested against a yellow excavator before the start of the traditional turning of soil to mark the start of work.

Springboard Delaware co-founder Judson Malone said $700,000 that Georgetown received from American Rescue Plan Act funding will cover the cost of construction. Malone’s group obtained the funding and manages Pallet Village. Other organizations provide residents with services, such as job training and case management.

Groups involved in the community center project spent eight months planning, including talking with people who would use its services, said Bernice Edwards, executive director of First State Community Action Agency. Her group owns the Pallet Village site and provides support services for residents.

“We wanted to know what they really want,” Edwards said. “I think what often happens is we tell people what they need. We need to stop, listen and find out what individuals want in life. People want a better way of life and a better community. That’s why we’re here. Our goal at First State is to work with those individuals to become self-sufficient.”   

“This village and this community center are instilling hope,” said Jeffrey Ronald, co-founder of Springboard Delaware. “Without hope and humanity, somebody who’s suffering and ailing and doesn’t see a future can’t build the bricks to build a better life. Hope builds determination, diligence and eventually self-sufficiency.”

The community center will include a kitchen, telehealth conference room, meeting space and a computer lab. It will also be a place where residents can receive job training, healthcare and other services.

“This facility will be a legacy to First State as well,” Malone said. “Someday we may not need these temporary cabins. Someday we may actually have enough housing for people to live in.”

He said his organization changed its name from Springboard Collaborative to Springboard Delaware to recognize its expanding role to lobby for similar projects elsewhere in the state. The Georgetown Pallet Village project was the first of its kind in Delaware, he said.

West said more than 60 people have moved from the Pallet Village to permanent housing. He said he met many people who were homeless when he was feeding them at the aid shelter.

“I got to know quite a few of them and got close to them, and learned that it wasn’t drugs, it wasn’t alcohol; it was the way they had fell on life,” he said. “The hopes and dreams they had were shattered and they had to go to the woods. Think of today how you’re standing here shivering, how you’re cold. Think about it 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning laying in a tent, what it would be like. That’s no place for people to be. We’re all humans.”

The community center will be a place where residents of Pallet Village can gather, talk with each other, and work to find permanent housing and jobs, West said. 

“That’s what it’s about, ladies and gentlemen, helping people get back on their feet and be proud the rest of their lives,” he said.

“It feels good,” Carter said of the community center project before walking off toward her residence as a light rain began to fall.