Summerville - Pioneering Sustainability

Marlena is a native Detroiter. She is a published author. She has a Bachelor's Degree in communications, Master's Degree in Business/Health Care Management. She is a wife, mother, entrepreneur and life long learner. She is a successful entrepreneur and housing development specialist.

She enjoys assisting others especially those who are marginalised and/or in minority specifically black community. She take a bold initiatives for those who are need and through her creative thinking and strong entrepreneurial skills, she find the ways and business models which have a strong potential to help those minorities in long term. Specifically from those initiative, one of the most powerful one  is presented in for this prize which she is extremely confident as winning idea.

She like cooking, public speaking,  reading, shopping and traveling. She currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia where she is working on various projects, continuing her education and advancing her career as entrepreneur.

We are concerned that

• Most infrastructure and residential development programs lack diversity and cultural competency specifically advancing living standard of indigenous community.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has made existing challenges and the need for such type of solutions even more visible.
• Environmental injustice and lack of initiative toward sustainable living  is a burning issue from both local pollution and global climate impacts. 

We are developing Summerville Village as a Model of Sustainable Livings to solve the issues i.e.

• Summerville will create a dynamic minority owned housing scheme which will offer single family homes, multi-family homes, community market, vacation rental etc.
• Summerville will provide inbuilt technology to keep resident safe from pollution, diseases and develop a hygienic society. 
• Summerville Village will be developed through utilizing and maintaining  the green technology and energy efficient housings & facilities. 
• Our business model advance indigenous community specifically women from aspiration to investments. 

Environmental injustice is a burning issue from both local pollution and global climate impacts. The COVID-19 pandemic has made existing challenges and the need for solutions even more visible. 

Most infrastructure and development programs lack diversity and cultural competency especially lacking the focus on indigenous community and not fully utilizing their indigenous skills. Most diversity-focused groups and programs do not offer a pipeline to investment from indigenous community and improving their living standards; rather they focus solely on networking and business remediation. 

Our society are in dire need of such business model and infrastructure development project which can showcase them the utilization of the green technology and to know how humanity can stay safe from disease by creating and adopting hygienic environment. 

The native communities are equipped with Indigenous knowledge systems and new technologies to solve these contemporary issues in the shape of and good example as Summerville which we call it "Model Village of Sustainability" . 

To address the cultural diversity issues and utilizing the indigenous skills within community, our business model is advancing indigenous community specifically women from aspiration to investments. Proudly we can say that Summerville is business model led by Women Young Leaders from indigenous community. By creating this model sustainable village, we envision to provide awareness, promotion, support and investment for indigenous community's led tech-based* and tech-enabled* living

Since the burning issues i.e. COVID-19 pandemic has made existing challenges. Summerville Village will be developed in such a standard which will help the society to learn from us, how to utilize the green technology and how humanity can stay safe from disease by creating and adopting hygienic environment. 

These indigenous communities have wonderful ideas, powerful technological skills and good investments resources in hands but they lack access toward such type of opportunities of investments due to their minority status, gender biased and lack of confidence. 

This solution will help them to do their investment for comfortable living, create safe living environment for them and their family, showcase their contribution in technological solution toward environment sustainability and live a quality life in a hygienic and lush green eco-friendly and healthy society.  

We are specially targeting indigenous community and marginalized population who are facing challenges in finding a clean and green place to live.

Project in the shape of Summerville Sustainable Model Village, consider both technology and traditional knowledge to support and scale positive impact i.e.

• This development project will create doors to increase access to jobs, boost financial capital in the shape of investment and also act as a role model and knowledge base of sustainable livings.
• The nature of the solution is promoting cultural revitalization as mentioned earlier
• This village will produce healthy and sovereign food, sustainable energy, and safe water
• The eco-friendly and clean living standard and the facilities will Improve healthcare outcomes

We are a team of system thinker, creative genius and environmental activist. Saving environment and ensuring sustainability is a core value of our initiatives. We have also felt that many of the black community rights are not fully protected and neither is a proper place where the indigenous community and these minorities can have a place where they can make a society to live together, work together, share their culture, food and festivals together. 

Therefore we through, why not to bring the issues of sustainability and issue of back lives matter together and find a solution which can solve both issues together. Therefore we come up with the idea to develop a place where not only these black community can live together in a resort style society but at the same time made a model village together where it can become a role model for other same type of housing scheme to replicate the idea in other places. 

As earlier mentioned, our team are motivated to run this initiative, not just a profit making idea for us but to provide a proper living place for black community to live together, smile together and share together and at the same time develop this village a role model of other to showcase, how black people are not just living a happy life but at the same time they are living an eco-friendly, healthy and green life.   

We human has now the responsibility to create inclusivity and let everyone access their share and resources equally. Therefore we are here to help those who are marginalized and left behind. .

We consider well positioned toward this solution because we are team of like minded members, mostly belong to same community, most of my team members are feeling strong being women and we as ourselves has passed through the same difficulties which a normal vulnerable women is passing through therefore we knows, what are the problem and what can be the best possible solution.

 After completing the eduction and starting the career things looked very difficult. We were just hand to mouth and also in community with having fragile resources where we more care about the food and shelter rather environment in early days. But at the corner of our heart, we were feeling that when we become successful, we will not only help our same black society but at the same time we will contribute to rebuild the green environment which we devastated in start. We faced many naysayers and also witnessed biased and sort of bullying too. But we found, either to focus on negative and live with it, or to ignore things and prove myself. We choose the later one. 

Today I am happy I have enabled myself to bring like minded people with me in a team and now on the mission to help those marginalized people especially women who are facing the challenges. 

I am a self-made successful business-women. The best example for my leadership is to lead my emotion and energies in the right direction to work for the things what is right and what is beneficial. Which I can proudly say, I am Black Women Entrepreneur with a successful business career. 

Another leadership ability is not just to put myself toward doing the initiative to help black people and the environment but I brought creative genius along within my team who had the same shared values. This project is one of the example of those wonderful initiatives which I leaded and worked together with my team

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Proud to say that our Solution is different and innovative. Summerville village is the first of it kind and as a Model of Sustainability in housing and human settlement. The reason we are innovative as we are combining eco-friendliness with technology. In other words, we are contributing to the sustainable development through modern day technological advancement. This innovation is enriched with the experience from indigenous community on a native led solution. Therefore we are proud of this solution to be first of its kind in residential projects and human settlement.

Goal/Impact: Bringing people & nature together one community at a time

Purpose/Outcome: To create a dynamic minority and indigenous people society/village through bringing together sustainable development and eco-friendly technological advancement in one place through the support of rich indigenous people’s skills.

Results/Outputs

To develop Summerville as a "Model Village of Sustainability" through a native -led solution equipped with Indigenous knowledge systems and new technologies

Summerville Village is developed in such a standard which will help the society to learn from us, how to utilize the green technology and how humanity can stay safe from disease by creating and adopting hygienic environment. 

Creating a business model which should advance indigenous community, led by Women Young Leaders from indigenous community and become a role model to provide awareness, promotion, support and investment for indigenous community's led tech-based* and tech-enabled* living.

Developing a role model for sustainable human settlement through utilizing the eco-friendly technological resources and advancing it further through bringing forward the leaning and knowledge of indigenous community lifestyle. 

The 360 degree approach is adopted within the village toward an eco-friendly lifestyle ranging from construction, infrastructure, buildings and toward housing, agriculture production, transport, home environment and waste disposals. 

Create an ideal resort style community that provides quality services & amenities and will offer the following:

•Single family homes

•Vacation Rentals

•Bike Trails

•Fishing

•Gardening

•Swimming 

•Miniature Golf and much more

We will serving two households/2 investors this year. 

We will serve 120 investors/households in coming years. 

• Our short-term goal is to finalize the closing of the land and have at least 2 homes built before year end. This means we will serving two households/2 investors this year. 
• Our long-term  goal is to create a resort style community and build 120 homes within the next 12 months. This means we will serve 120 investors/households in next years. 

Fundraising for the pilot stage and seed money for the starting year is the major barrier. This is barrier for first year and may be second year too. Once pilot will run, people will start investment and then income can generated. Currently most of the challenges we face are under control and we are planning to overcome these challenges with a strategic planning process.

 As earlier mentioned, this funding will help to start the pilot and once the pilot is completed, people will see the results and we are very optimistic that they will be interested to do investments. To overcome the startup funding and seed money for pilot implementation, we are looking for grants (such as this one) and also doing dome private fundraising.

Our builder BWB Construction is our strong partner who provides every home buyer total home site development as well as other on site building options to meet the needs of any potential home buyer! They have expertise in developing eco-friendly societies and infrastructure development. In addition we are partnered with local minority groups and indigenous society where we work together with them to understand their need for living, raising their quality of life and as well to learn from them to bring the good practices they adopted in past which were friendly to environment and nature. 

We are also having close liaison and partnership with state government, housing authority and county's administration to keep our self updated with the regulation and environmental legislations for such projects. 

Our business model is to create an ideal resort style community that provides quality services & amenities.

 The Lakes of Summerville will offer the following:

•Single family homes

•Vacation Rentals

•Bike Trails

•Fishing

•Gardening

•Swimming 

•Miniature Golf

•& Much More 

Our Tentative Budget 

•$375,000 for Land 

•$30,000 Soil Test ($300 for each home) 

•$15,000 Land Survey & Platting

•$180,000 for First Modular Home

•     (Includes cost to build & finish home)

•Total $600,000 

•_______________

•128 investors/buyers x $4750 +/- each to cover cost of lot = $608,000

•$8,000 +/- will be left over. Hopefully we can get some concessions or discounts since multiple homes will be built.

Our Profit

•Single Family Homes x $180,000 =$23 Million if we sell 128 homes

•Plenty of land will be left over for development.

We can also generate an income from vacation rentals and pay per use activities. 

For the seed amount for pilot implementation we are in contact with small but strategic investors, doing private fundraising and as well looking for institutional grants and prizes which can fund such type of innovative and sustainable development initiatives. Our team also have invested small amount which is running the current operations. Soon once our pilot run successfully, a sustainable revenue will be started through investment as given below. 

Income Homes Sales 500,000 (50 homes X 10,000 profit each) Vacation Rentals 480,000 (10 rentals x $4000 per month each x 12 months) Agriculture & Market place 480,000 (4,000 per month x 12 months) Grants & Partnerships $500,000 Total=$1.96 Million

Since the project is in the pilot stage and is having a unique nature of its own, therefore to attract more investor we are initially look for seed funding and prize funding. Once the project will start, then we will generate income through investments.

For initial funding, we are looking for grants, fundraising through crowdfunding etc. 

Wages $6250, 

Utilities $1500,

 Supplies $2000, 

Mortgage/Rent $1500,

Elevate prize is the best and fit platform to bring this solution because no other platform will understand better the need and  issues of marginalized and indigenous population, other than solve. This prize will provide us an opportunity to seed the initiative and enable to serve the native-led initiatives for supporting indigenous community. 

We understand Elevator Prize and Solve also support UN-Sustainable Development Goals, Artificial Intelligence and eco-friendly Technological Advancements. This unique initiative in envisioned to merge sustainable development with eco-friendly technological advancement and utilization. Since due to COVID-19, many businesses and relationships are going digital, therefore Solve better  understand that this initiative we proposed are not possible without digital engagements and improving artificial intelligence within the human settlements right from the beginning stage of development. 

As the 17th goal of SDGs promote partnership, therefore on this belief, the team of Summerville Village is intended to expand its partnership network where other partner, who have the same shared goals should come together, share resources and provide expertise we lack and as well provide financial support.

For partnership we would like to be involved with MIT, organizations and businesses with same initiatives, Indigenous Community Forums, UN-SDGs, Entrepreneurs Networks and advising agencies in such domains.