- 4:04 – Latasha Giles introduces herself and her role in the Bridge North Charleston organization.
- 7:00 – Discussing the efforts to prevent gentrification and maintain community integrity through affordable housing.
- 9:23 – The importance of changing mindsets around “low wealth” vs. “low income.”
- 14:32 – Building trust and relationships within the community to drive meaningful change.
- 21:11 – Addressing misinformation about the North Bridge Townhomes project.
- 24:44 – Lessons in compromise and integrity when working with diverse groups for community development.
- Learn more about the North Bridge Townhomes project here.
- Explore financial literacy resources offered by Exit Realty Lowcountry here.
- Website: https://bridgenorthcharleston.org/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latarsha-giles-a2b236208/
- Contact Number: 843-619-3005
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exitstrategiesradioshow/
- FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/exitstrategiessc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoSuynJd5c4qQ_eDXLJaZA
- Website: https://www.exitstrategiesradioshow.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmelette/
CORWYN:
Do you want something more? More meaningful moments, opportunities, deeper relationships, and memorable experiences? Do you want to make a difference? If you said yes to any of that, a career in real estate could be the opportunity you’re looking for. Guiding people through one of the most important decisions they ever made. The purchase or sale of their home can be both rewarding and lucrative. Exit Realty’s revolutionary compensation model, training, and technology provides you with the tools you need to start and build your successful real estate career. Call Exit Realty Lowcountry Group today at 843-619-3005, that’s 843-619-3005 or visit join.exitlowcountry.com and make your exit today.
Good morning and great morning to you guys. Welcome to another fabulous episode of Exit Strategies Radio Show. Hey, I am your host Corwyn J Melette, broker and owner of Exit Lowcountry group in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. So guys, look, I want to say a huge thank you, for those who have been tuning in. And today that you guys who listen to us locally in our market, in Charleston, you are going to be in for a treat. Look here, because we’re talking about Charleston, about North Charleston day. So I’m super, super duper excited about that. But for you guys who listen to us around the globe, hey, look, you’re going to hear today about something that you can look to do replicate duplicate, if you will, in your respective markets, in your respective places around the world. Because guys, today we’re talking about community, that’s what we’re doing. So I don’t want to miss the opportunity to remind you all about what we do here on this show. exit strategies, guys, but it’s my baby. It’s how I give back to our community, how I love on people, because this work that we do is a ministry and we love to be able to share information with people and give people opportunities and resources and connect the dots so that people can get from where they are to where they’re going. Exit is an action word based on a book of exit us. That means removing people or getting people from one place to another. So guys, look, I want to say to you, I want to say to you, buckle up and hold on tight because our mission here at this show is very simple. That is to empower our community through financial literacy and real estate education, guys, I don’t want to jumble that up. Financial literacy and real estate education guys, we are legacy building. That is what we do. So guys today, I got like the community activist, I just love how she connects in her community. Hi, everyone knows her, because she is an advocate. I mean, beaten the streets, beaten down doors, to bring opportunities to her community, to her neighborhood. So I want to introduce to you guys, Miss Latarsha Giles, with North Bridge town. So guys, we’re going to talk about that today. But she’s a board member guys with the bridge North Charleston organization based right here in beautiful North Charleston, South Carolina. Natasha, how you doing today?
LATARSHA:
Wonderful. Thank you so much corn for that excellent introduction.
CORWYN:
Well, just so you know, I’m available for hire, to introduce wherever you may go. So Just count me as a part of your entourage. So tell our listeners who you are, what is you do and then let’s get into a conversation about the work and opportunities that you guys have been building for your community.
LATARSHA:
So once again, my name is Latarsha Giles. I am a board member of the British North Charleston, which is a nonprofit group that’s working around the Accabee in hub village communities, building homes, and those homes are giving people in our area and which they call our area a low wealth area. Some considered low income or we say low wealth area, getting first dabs at home ownership. And Bridge North Charleston started from grassroots coming into our community, trying to uplift, empower and educate our community before the first home was even built. And one of those things that they did was they offered scholarships for trading tech and people within our community. I just love the fact that they came to the community because most of the time when people come to building your community, they don’t come and reach out to the community and get give us that opportunity to sit at the table. So just working with them have changed my mind about a lot of things. And first and foremost, I am the Community president of Accabee, which sits right next to the house village where the homes are going to be built. And it’s just been a wonderful journey thus far, it’s been a learning process for me, I’ve had to compromise on some things, because sometimes I can just be like, Nope, we’re going to do it like this. And that’s it. And this project has made me learn, okay, sometimes you have to give, sometimes you have to take a little, everything’s not going to be the way it actually planned to be in the beginning. But you still can have something that’s wonderful in the end. And I think that’s what we’re heading towards right now with this Bridge North Charleston project. And I’m just glad to be a part of it, and have my community be a part of it and actually benefit from something that’s going to create generational wealth.
CORWYN:
And so for our listeners, guys, let me kind of bring you around on something, and then touch we’re gonna come right back into this head on. So many times we see in our communities, communities that are predominantly African American, at some point in time, there just seems to be this wave that kind of just pushes those people out. And then pretty soon, no one who was originally a part of their neighborhood, or otherwise tied to the neighborhood remains, everybody has gone. And in turn, there’s all new people there. And oftentimes, it’s not a reflection of what the neighborhood looked like prior, and for most of us, we just consider that to be gentrification, right, you’re pushing people out. So the organization that you’re a part of that you’re serving as a member of the board, also, you’re embedded in the community, grassroots that organization is focused on, I don’t want to say making sure it doesn’t happen. But they’re working counter intuitively, to prevent that from happening in this neighborhood. Is that fair to say?
LATARSHA:
Absolutely. Not only with home ownership, they’re trying to educate people, again, through growth, but going back to school, in order for us to be a part of the solution, we have to educate ourselves. And we have to further our education. And I think that’s the best part about this project, where they’re reaching back into the community, and giving people what they actually need. The only way we’re going to be able to fight this whole thing called gentrification is we have to change our income status. And that’s part of the problem with our community, we just don’t have the income we have the heart, we have the soul, that it’s just the income that we need to stay within our communities.
CORWYN:
So one of the things that you said earlier, and I like this, I’m gonna tell you, like, a pastor told me a little early today, because I sent him something on my email saying he caught something I have embedded in the signature. And he said, Look, he I’m gonna have to use that going forward, he’s I’m gonna give you credit, the first time, I might give you credit, the first three times I use it, but you spoke about because oftentimes, when we look at affordable housing, and all that kind of stuff, and that’s what this project has for our listeners, but we’re going to come back around and pick that up and carry it forward in a bit. But you spoke about– you said, low wealth versus low income, because typically, people look like this kind of stuff in these particular locales, or what have you as being really low income, but you’re just saying low wealth. And I do want to challenge you on that. Because the community is wealthy, there is wealth in the community. There is knowledge, there is history, there’s property. So property has its own value. But I’m not going to change this. I don’t like low income as a term for community, I don’t like it. So we’ll definitely use low wealth. But you speak about that, from a perspective, tying into what you just said, of the community itself, has the people has the willingness, sometimes there is a shortage of the resources necessary in order to get to where they need to be in order to do whatever they need to do. And sometimes that is job, maybe there’s a lack of employment or lack of significant employment opportunities. So is that one of the things that you’re working through, as you’re working on the background for this project, but also working within the community?
LATARSHA:
So I borrowed that term low wealth, from another nonprofit, I work with: LAPSI. And because words have power, and I don’t like that word, low income, because technically our community is like a melting pot. We have some people that are actually making high dollars, they could potentially choose to live in another community, but they choose to live here because of the history and family land, and they want to keep that spot sacred. They don’t want to sell it off. They understood what our ancestors did, to provide that land for them. They got that land during the time when things weren’t equal, we had to struggle. So we want to keep it in the family. But yeah, to answer your question, one of the goals is to actually help people financially. So people that are in our community that are in need to get to them just to make that extra step, just to think different. Sometimes it’s all about changing your mindset about what’s going on. And if you’re stuck around the same people all the time, and you’re not dealing with other people, sometimes you’re just stuck in that same mindset. And sometimes we just need to educate people from that standpoint, to change your mindset.
CORWYN:
Essentially, to use that you just say that because it really is I personally, today was the heavy day for me, just a heavy day. And you know, in those instances, we realized that so many people are plugged into you, if you think about it from the perspective of an outlet, a lot of givers have like extension cords and unblock things to plug into us. And you got everybody plugging in and pulling power from your pulling from you. And at some point in time, you know, you just overheat or melt from electrical standpoint that causes a fire, so to speak. But short version, you burn yourself out, right, and who fixes you in that, who pours into you. And it’s all in this always mindset, having people around you that are inspiring and empowering, versus the alternative, which is they’re just griping and complaining and giving all their grief to you. So now you’re burned out with their troubles as well as y’all. So I definitely can see that. So you guys have started as an organization, you started the fundamentals, and you’re serving what I call the whole man, because people oftentimes will come in and dissect the person they want to, okay, I’m gonna come in, and I’m going to teach a credit, or I’m gonna come in and I’ma teach you this skill, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that, or I’m gonna preach to you, and I’m gonna do this, but just servicing the whole man, you’re working to get them education. So scholarships, you guys have started with that. There’s actually, as you guys listen to this show, guys, that farmers market this weekend, that is designed to give back to the community. So those kinds of things that go on, service, the person from here to their stomach, on the guys who didn’t see me from your head to his stomach, and you got to also cover the man, which is why we get into the housing piece of it. But what do you want to see as a result, from all this work that Bridge North Charleston is putting into the community.
LATARSHA:
So the thing that I would like to see is just our people. And when I say our people, I mean black people, because that’s the majority of the makeup of my community, just utilize the resources that are out there and are being offered to us and make the most of it. I think that’s the only issue that we have with some people within our community. It’s just access to resources. And a lot of that we don’t have in this Bridge North Charleston is bringing everything together. It’s like they’re creating that bridge. So we can cross that bridge and work together. And bringing those resources to the community. Some of this is going to take a little time and effort of holding some people’s hands. But we can’t continue to hold their hand, we have to show them the way. So they can make their way by themselves. And then they can go back and pick up that next person and bring them across the bridge. So it was all about reaching back and helping people and you have to do this type of work from the heart. You can’t have an agenda. There’s no hidden agenda with this. Everything that I’m doing within my community, is because I love my community. I’m not getting paid to do this. I can find something else to do that’s actually going to pay me. But I’ve been born and raised in this community and I love my people. And I understand like the new people say I understand that assignment. I love it as a navigator. Absolutely. One of our mottos while community is to educate, empower and uplift.
CORWYN:
So if I could be had a mayor, right, it would be you.
LATARSHA:
I gotta interrupt you on that one because I have some people coming after my neck, but that’s when that’s my mama title. My mom has any jobs ran that community center for well over 20 years, and they give her the unofficial title of the Mayor of Accabee so I’m gonna have to cut you off on that way. They’re going to come after me. I won’t do that. No, I can’t hold our shoes. I’m telling you.
CORWYN:
Oh, we gotta make you Mayor Pro Tem. How about that. When I’m in a community with you, I’m very watchful, very observant. And when I’m watching I see how you interact with all the people in this whole thing is a labor of love. And I know it from every time that I’m with you when I see you in the community, how you greet the people, how you embrace the people in what you do and your mannerisms towards them and in turn their mannerisms towards you. So I don’t know if I’ve ever said that to you out loud. No, every time I look at you, and I see you, I think that because I’m watching you work within your community, and the impact and the differences that it’s making, you’re bringing people to the table, if you will, who have never been to the table, and you’re bringing them to the table, not randomly out in the streets or out here, out there, you’re bringing them to the table, in your community, you set the table up in your neighborhood, and you got people from outside the neighborhood who’s always went around it, now coming inside of it, to engage with your community that is profound, so that you do this for a spotlight. But every now and again, I know that you have to be encouraged and what it is you do, because it is a labor of love. There is no compensation for it, other than goodwill. So one day when get to where you’re going when you quote unquote, as I tell fit, when you get to the gate, then maybe that would be what you’ve done in your community. And may that speak for you? Does that make sense?
LATARSHA:
Listen, and I appreciate that comment. But I don’t think people understand how important it is to make that connection with people. Because I don’t get caught up on people’s titles, I don’t get caught up on how much money they have or don’t have, I like to find out who that person is. Because we all have talents and skills. But something may have happened that knock you off track in life, and you didn’t get back up. And some people have the tools to get back up and some people don’t. But that doesn’t make the people who are still down less than. So I tried to talk to everybody on that same type of level may give them that type of respect. And I think a lot of people don’t understand where you’re coming into community, and particularly into our black community, you have to build that trust level. Because we’ve had so much people come in within our communities trying to use us to get what they want. So there’s always this barrier that we have. And I’ll be honest with you. Even when Bridge first came to our community, I was pushing back. I mean, I was pushing back big time, I was like, No, we don’t want this because we knew it was gentrification. I was totally the bridge, before I joined with the bridge. And we had a community elder, she just started talking to me and she was like Tasha, she was like these people come in, with or without you. She was like, we can sit on the sidelines and watch them. Or we can join them. And that’s what I am so thankful for being a product bridge, because they’re actually listening to what we’re saying. And in that, and they’re trying to make change within the community. And it may not be the change that everyone wants to see. But you have to start somewhere. And I think we’ve done that with the bridge, we’re starting somewhere. And I hope that I continue to be able to be a part of bridge to see where else This takes us to.
CORWYN:
So Liz, that’s probably a good segue into misinformation, because there’s so many people within the community, and maybe even outside of the community who have no understanding of what’s going on. So as we talk about this project, so for our listeners a quick catch up, there are 20 brand new townhomes being built for purchase in hub village associated with the Accabee community and in turn, under the auspices of umbrella of bridge North Charleston as a nonprofit, townhome community, north bridge towns, they’re significantly subsidized with downpayment assistance as high as $140,000 in downpayment or subsidy to offset the purchase price. So you’re talking the potential for someone to purchase one of these units as low as $149,000, if they qualify for the greatest subsidy, and if there’s available inventory, which we know the inventory is getting away from us. So if you have interests, you need to make sure that you’re reaching out. But that piece right there. There’s so many people that are out here, misinforming people about this kind of work, and specifically about this project. So what type of misinformation have you experienced as it relates to it? And what do you think is a way that we can combat that if you will, so that we can make sure people are getting the true picture of what’s going on?
LATARSHA:
So the first misinformation I’ve heard is the homes are over $400,000, which is totally not true. There’s just a number and I don’t even waste my time going into the misinformation. It’s like you got these keyboard gangsters out here sitting behind their keyboards on social media that’s typing things. And it’s sad. Because if you’re a voice that people are following, who don’t go out, in fact, check you now and they’re running, spreading this information. And the people who may have benefited from this project probably won’t even be able to benefit because you believe something that somebody else said without even going and doing your own research and my thing is a game with mindset. Even when some people in our community here $149,000, they still acting crazy, like, that’s a lot of money, but they don’t understand the flip side of it. This the new Charleston, just a new North Charleston, I’m not even reading these prices. And again, I had to take my mindset, cuz when is it? Like why? What is it? You ksnow, I was like, Okay. And I was like, Well, when I was informed that $300,000 is asking price, and that’s the one the low end in Charleston, and my So, again, at your mindset, but then when we put those numbers into terms of monthly payments, and then you compare that to how much you’re paying your rent, then it gets people looking at it totally different. Like, I might qualify, this might be the route for me to take. So sometimes you just have to meet people where they are and give them the information in a different way. So that it’s easy for them to digest. But yeah, it’s a lot. But again, I just implore people to do your own research instead of just listening to what’s posted, because some people are just looking for fame out there.
CORWYN:
That’s fair, because I mean, a lot of information about this project has not been posted. It’s been shared intermittently, directly to reach pockets of people that would qualify and benefit from it. But most importantly, to reach the people within the neighborhood within the immediate area, because that is ultimately who we’d like to serve first. We’d like to make sure that the people in the community have first pick first slide, and achieving homeownership, and being able to remain within the community. So again, the people who are taking information and giving it out or pushing it out, that are dissuading people from participating from an intern encouraging them to miss a great opportunity. Because, I mean, you’ve heard me talk about this project, it’s the kneeling bus, the prices have been lowered considerably. In order, the effective price to purchase price has been lowered considerably. To give people an opportunity to own a home versus remaining a renter, that’s it’s unheard of, I’ve done this kind of work for a long time, never saw a project with this much money, with this much assistance to benefit this many people at one time. I’ve never seen it. So it’s definitely a one off. And it’s a great opportunity for people to be able to remain within the community. So let me come around because you’ve seen the units and we’ll be in immunise again, as you guys are listening to this, some of you cast this on our replay on our website, in our podcast, we’re gonna be in these units, these units are beautiful, they nice. Am I right?
LATARSHA:
The dryer in the washer comes already installed. And listen, Corwyn, you got to give the people number, if you in the Accabee village, please reach out so you can get your name on this. We know we can accommodate everybody, but at least we’re trying. And that’s the goal, we’re trying to get as much people from the area to turn from renters into home ownership.
CORWYN:
That is fair. So if our listeners, guys, this is something you want more information about this, you can contact our office 843-619-3005 Again, 843-619-3005. Um, you can reach us there, you can get us on our social media, just say, hey, I want to know about those townhouses, and in turn, we’ll get you where you need to go. So you can get more information. Because it is a tremendous, again, opportunity for people to achieve homeownership. And these units are ready to go people are going to be moving into them. Trust me within about the next month, we hopefully have the first several people moving in. So guys, we don’t want to miss those opportunities. So Latarsha, you’ve done this kind of work. So let me ask you as we get to the end of today’s show, because I’m definitely gonna have you back on have you back with some of the other board members that continue to have this conversation and expand on this narrative about affordable housing and opportunities and how the community can work with local nonprofits in order to achieve a better result versus gentrification. But if I can ask you the thing that you have learned out of this process, and you may have already said or handed to some of it, but the thing that you learned out of this process, that you believe that anyone else in your situation, your current level of community involvement, that may get a seat at a table that they should be aware of and bring to the table. What would that be? So what is it that you’ve learned that if you knew this a long time ago, you think you would have been further involved in this type of work a long time ago.
LATARSHA:
the biggest thing for me is compromise and not to compromise your integrity because you still have to have integrity throughout this whole process. I’ll tell you the one thing I worried about when I was first joining up forces I don’t want to be the black face on this project. And I distinctly told them that in the beginning, I’m like, I’m not being a token girl, we want what’s right to come to our community. I’m not, I’m not going to sit on here and be agreeing with everything, something’s going to be challenged. But yes, I learned how to compromise. And just to get a better understanding of people outside of my community, and working with people from different socio economic backgrounds, even people from different political parties, who still want to help our community, just trying to navigate that sometimes it’s sticky. I’d be like, I don’t know, if we understand trying to do the right thing for the people, then sometimes you have to give it a chance. And it’s all about taking the chance. And I’m telling you, I took a big chance. Because, you know, at first, when I first joined up with this, there were people within the community who weren’t in agreement. And I had at this point, I am not going as Accabee’s president, I am going as Latarsha Giles, a resident of Accabee, because there’s something I see here. And I just don’t want us to miss out on this opportunity. Because, again, when developers come to the area, they don’t come to our community reaching out seeing if we want to be a part. The developer that’s associated with this project. She came, I gave her a hard time on many occasions, but she still came and she came back again, and she came back again. Have to stand firm sometimes, and sometimes you just have to be like, okay, just let your guard down and see what can happen with this. And that’s something that I did, I just took a chance. And I don’t take a whole lot of chances. I like to do stay straight. I don’t go off to the veer off to the left or right too much. I just like to stay straight. But I took a week chance. And I’m glad that I took a chance this time.
CORWYN:
So are we it’s been a pleasure, working with you and engaging with you, as you do what you do to serve the community. And we do what we do to work in and around it. So I really appreciate your candor, you’re very straightforward, because you’re there, not for you, but as a representative for all this. And if you will be one of the people that have a proverbial paintbrush or sketch pen that you’re looking to paint or draw a better picture, a better outlook for the aquabion have village area altogether. So again, thank you for what you do.
LATARSHA:
You’re welcome.
CORWYN:
So Latarsha, thank you so much for being on the show with us today. I am looking forward to getting you back with a few other members of the board. So we can delve a little bit deeper into this. Because affordable housing these kinds of things are important to our communities. It’s how we serve how we give back and how we create opportunities for others to build and create wealth. And this is a tremendous opportunity for people to be able to do so. So I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be on the show with us today.
LATARSHA:
Thank you for having me. And we got to find a different word for affordable too because affordable for who is the next question that’s coming up.
CORWYN:
Sure enough, fair enough. We will definitely do that. So for our listeners, guys, y’all know how I do y’all know what I say you know, always put two of those things together too. And give it to you this way, which is I love you. I love you. I love you. And we will see you guys out there in those streets
