THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 21, 1996 TAG: 9607220217
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 174 lines
It was an Ebony magazine article that triggered Jay Smallwood's second career.
One day while living in New Jersey and working as a computer programmer, Smallwood read about African-American celebrities who used foundations to help the unfortunate.
The article made him think about his hometown.
He'd watched too long while the housing conditions in Suffolk disintegrated. It was time to do what the folks in the article had done. It was time for a change.
``I decided it was time to come back this way,'' he said. ``I'd been interested in housing and real estate, and that article just made it all come together.''
Smallwood, 38, owns Suffolk-based MECCA, which seeks to help needy residents who want to build homes, and is president of New Dominion, a similar organization in Newport News. Both are non-profit.
Along the way, Smallwood has made his personal and corporate goal helping Huntersville, a neighborhood along Town Point Road near the Chesapeake/Suffolk border.
The neighborhood, more than 100 years old, once was full of abandoned buildings and decrepit homes without running water or bathrooms.
Now, some residents have houses with bathrooms as a result of state indoor plumbing grants that Smallwood helped them get. The area has participated in several cleanups and has held meetings to plan how residents want Huntersville to look.
When the Portsmouth Community Development Corp., which had administered those grants, decided to pull out, Smallwood applied to manage them.
But the city, while admitting that Smallwood had done a good job using the grants, instead chose the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project, a nonprofit anti-poverty agency, to administer the program. STOP already runs similiar programs in Franklin, and Isle of Wight and Southampton counties.
Suffolk officials said they wanted a larger and more experienced agency to manage the state money. They said they were unwilling to risk being held responsible should Smallwood have encountered problems.
Suffolk has already had that experience with one of its own agencies.
Four years ago, the Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority mismanaged a rental rehabilitation grant program. The city was held liable. The authority is just starting to pay the money back.
Smallwood scaled back his plans for Huntersville after not being given the program. But he said he will continue his efforts to help totally redevelop the neighborhood over five years.
``I want to give something back to Suffolk,'' Smallwood said. ``These people can be helped. Suffolk is huge, and there are a lot of needy areas. My goal is to work with one neighborhood at a time. That's when you can really see results.''
Sitting in his modest office a few weeks ago, wearing jeans and stopping to grab the phone every time it rang, Smallwood reminisced about growing up in Suffolk.
As a child, he watched his friends and neighbors struggle to live in houses that were falling apart, places with leaky roofs, saggy foundations and no plumbing.
Smallwood's father was a landlord who refused to allow his properties to run down.
Smallwood learned the basics of construction and maintenance 25 years ago, working with his father to maintain those properties.
``His rental property was nicer than most,'' Smallwood said. ``That's what I grew up with, actually making sure that you take care of your property and have a place that you wouldn't mind living in yourself.''
When Smallwood decided to return to Suffolk, he initially envisioned himself starting a self-help housing business, using grant money to teach people how to build their own homes.
He received funding four years ago, but said he could not get enough families to participate.
That's when he read the results of a Suffolk housing study that recommended creating nonprofit corporations to help the city provide and maintain decent, affordable housing.
The report also suggested setting up a program to identify neighborhoods that needed help - based on economic conditions, housing problems and willingness to participate in solutions.
When the city identified Huntersville and Hall Place for revitalization projects in 1995, Smallwood decided to focus on Huntersville.
At the time, Huntersville was getting state help for residents lacking sewerage and water. The Portsmouth Community Development Group managed the program, and Smallwood began working with the organization.
He receieved $100,000 through the Virginia Housing and Community Development agency, which administers the grants, and rebuilt two Huntersville homes.
Smallwood used about $49,000 on one home, and $48,000 on the other. Although the grant is designated for homes without indoor plumbing or with serious plumbing problems, it can also be used to repair other problems if a house is unsafe.
He used MECCA to complete other neighborhood goals.
Smallwood held community planning sessions to identify the community's needs and desires. Residents wanted help with their houses, and they wanted to see people move into the area, he found.
``We got everyone involved, including the kids, who drew what they wanted their subdivision to have,'' he said.
With his help, the residents devised an illustration and a three-page plan that includes a park, sidewalks, elimination of substandard housing and drainage problems, better roads, ongoing neighborhood cleanups and land for new residential development.
A large window air-conditioning unit hums loudly in Smallwood's tiny office in the old National Bank Building on West Washington Street in downtown Suffolk. Every inch of desk and cabinet space is occupied by files. Old chairs and well-worn carpet fill the rest of his office.
The only sign informing folks of MECCA's whereabouts is the one next to the elevator inside the building.
While folks down at City Hall had heard of him and his work, many knew very little about his undertakings in Huntersville. At least until he began contacting city departments for help with neighborhood cleanups.
That's how Council member Marian ``Bea'' Rogers heard of him.
``He's doing a very good job there,'' Rogers said, after inspecting his work. ``I went out and helped with three cleanups and to the unveiling of the homes. He's done good work.''
Smallwood stared at his hands while he talked about what not managing the grant means to him and his business.
``This fiasco with the city means we have to do a better job of educating the city and the housing authority about the community's needs,'' Smallwood said.
``The city's role is to set policy and provide funding,'' Smallwood said. ``It's not possible for them to bring in all the money to do this work. The housing authority can help bring other resources and can do the acquisition of property and oversee different programs. Non-profits can funnel more money and develop plans and get a lot more outside help.''
Smallwood said that once he completes his work in Huntersville, he plans to branch off to other Suffolk neighborhoods.
``Suffolk is so huge, it can easily be diluted,'' Smallwood said. ``If you go in and work on a small community and finish, that's the best way. I'd like to finish and see people enjoying their homes - children playing in a recreational area, other people getting involved in the process.
``There's a lot of opportunity, and a lot of work to be done. I want Huntersville finished.''
Huntersville residents say they are behind him.
``He's a wonderful man,'' said Shirley Snellings, a longtime Huntersville resident whose home is next in line for work from Smallwood. ``He has really brought light to Huntersville. And we will continue to work.''
Smallwood said that is the kind of satisfaction that keeps him going.
``My real drive is the people,'' he said.
``Taking people who have been left out and forgotten and with small voices and letting them know they are important. That's what's important to me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
Houses, such as this one on Townpoint Road in the Huntersville
section, are being renovated. Some are having running water and
bathrooms added, and the area has participated in cleanups.
Photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
Houses, such as this one on Townpoint Road in the Huntersville
section, are being renovated. Some are having running water and
bathrooms added, and the area has participated in cleanups.
Graphic
ABOUT SMALLWOOD
Who is Jay Smallwood?
A Suffolk native who grew up on White Marsh Road, he is working
to cure the city's housing problems one neighborhood at a time. His
focus is Huntersville.
He has an associate degree in electronics from Tidewater
Community College. After working as a technician, he got into sales
and marketing before becoming a computer programmer, then owning his
own business.
What does he do?
He owns MECCA, a non-profit organization that educates and
assists needy residents wanting to build homes.
What has he accomplished?
Smallwood has built new homes for two Huntersville women whose
property had too many problems to fix. He's also helped the
neighborhood develop a plan for how they want Huntersville to look
and helped them set up neighborhood cleanups.
His goals are to fix the housing problems, put in a park and
attract new residents.
KEYWORDS: URBAN RENEWAL by CNB