BALTIMORE — The Cherry Hill neighborhood, just south of the Patapsco River is the focus of governor Wes Moore's Enough Act.
It targets certain communities to invest in, hoping to revitalize them through a method known as Purpose Built Communities.
"The investments are carefully planned by local community leaders in those four areas and the idea is to meet the needs of the communities," said Carol Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities.
Purpose Built Communities is being used across the country to improve areas that are historically under-served.
"This is apart of the culmination of the legacy of the elders of Cherry Hill who have been holding the line of this community for years," said Zeevelle "Z" Nottingham-lemon, the executive director of Cherry Hill Strong.
The four pillars are high quality housing, a pipeline to strong careers, community wellness, and economic strength.
"Even though there's a housing strategy at play everywhere, how it's executed and how it expresses itself is different in every community to meet the needs of the neighborhood," said Naughton.
Instead of someone from outside the community telling them how to do things it comes from people who have lived in Cherry Hill.
They know what the community lacks better than anyone.
"So there is a really clear plan that has come from the community that has birthed out of the vision of the actual residents and folks who are in and from Cherry Hill who have already said we have a plan for how we want to see Cherry Hill transformed," said Nottingham-Lemon.
Amplifying the efforts of the elders to improve the community for the next generations.
