Sonce Reese – UB Visions

Hello and Welcome!

Hi! My name is Sonce Reese and I am a Class 6 alum and Class 7’s On-Site coordinator. I graduated from UB in Spring 2015, with a Bachelor’s degree in Forensics and am now working towards a Masters in Global Affairs and Human Security.

LeaderShape: I had never heard of LeaderShape and didn’t even know what the program was about, but thought it would be a great opportunity to build up my leadership skills, so I signed up. Keeping an open mind, I signed up for the program. LeaderShape, for me, was transformational. My vision, to fill the 16,000 vacant homes in Baltimore City, was met with encouragement, support and probing questions, such as “How will this vision be completed?” and “Is it even possible?” I was more determined and more inspired than I had ever been before. I met and interacted with some wonderful people whose visions I support and who support mine. My vision, which hangs on my wall in my home office, has evolved to include creating healthy, vibrant communities, but fill vacant home In Baltimore City is still my top priority.

I am pleased to travel on this journey with you and will be with you until your LeaderShape graduation next semester. Looking forward to your posts and a great year with you!

My Leadershape Vision – Home – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

With over 16,000 vacant houses in Baltimore City, the city has a unique opportunity to make it possible for many college students, individuals and families to have a place to call home.

Heritage Crossing5 — http://baltimorefuture.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html

Purchasing, owning and rehabbing a vacant home is a great way for the city to bring families back to the city, and to create affordable housing opportunities for individuals and college students. Homeownership in the city provides the owner with the opportunity to create their own space, to work towards becoming debt free and to be a part of building a healthy, vibrant community.

There are many programs that make it possible to own a home in the city and create housing opportunities. Baltimore City’s Vacants to Value program offers many incentives for Baltimore City Ownership including the faceted Baltimore Homeownership Incentive Program (B-HiP). The highlights of the program include:

The Vacants to Value Booster Program – Eligible homebuyers can get $10,000 towards closing costs for the purchase of a formerly vacant home.

Baltimore City Employee Homeownership Program – The incentive for City employees has been increased from $3,000 to $5,000.

Buying into Baltimore and City Living Starts Here – The Buying into Baltimore incentive has been increased from $4,000 to $5,000. Also, Live Baltimore has added four neighborhood tours, City Living Starts Here, to the previous two citywide tours. The number of incentives awarded has been increased from 60 to 100 per year.

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Homeownership Assistance Program – For first-time home buyers with total family income at or below 80% of the area median income, $5,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance is available.

You’ll find the website for the program here.

There are also many talented real estate agents in the city who can help to make Baltimore City homeownership a reality.

vacantsmap — http://technical.ly/baltimore/2012/08/09/15928-vacant-buildings-baltimore-city-map/

Access-Land-Photo-1024x323 — http://www.farmalliancebaltimore.org/the-alliance/how-to/access-land/

http://www.vacantstovalue.org/Incentives.aspx#lnyw

My Leadershape Vision – Building from the Inside Out – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

Healthy, vibrant communities begin from the ground up and from the inside out. Oftentimes, because the problems are so prominent and so widespread, we forget about solutions. Solutions can be large or they can be small, the size of the solutions do not matter. What does matter are the actions that we take. Actions are the difference between change and stagnation. My vision is to create healthy, vibrant communities. Will you join me as I help to make a difference and rebuild our Baltimore.

Moving Forward With My LeaderShape Vision – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

This semester marks the beginning of a new year with new challenges. One challenge that I may face is continuing to move forward with my vision.

After spending almost a month in Antigua, Guatemala and looking around at the most magnificent architecture I’ve ever seen, I realized that it was time to start focusing on solutions. We know what the problems are, we see vacant houses everyday, but what are the solutions to the problem.

So this semester I am focusing on solutions. My solutions will include and my focus will be building healthy, vibrant communities and neighborhoods where:

the residents feel safe.
children can go outside and play.
affordable housing is well kept.
schools and school programs are properly funded.
fresh fruit markets are within walking distance.
the streets are paved.
the transportation system is efficient and transports people to jobs that pay a livable wage.

I’ll keep you posted and in the meantime, come and check out my presentation at the University of Baltimore’s 2nd Annual Experiential Learning Showcase this Thursday, February 11, 2016 in the Bogomolny Room of the Student Center at 11:15 am. Hope to see you there.

My Leadershape Vision – Sonce

By: Sonce Reese, Class 6

Hello. My name is Sonce Reese. I am a graduate student studying Global Affairs and Human Security and the Graduate Assistant for the Divided Baltimore Dual Enrollment course at the University of Baltimore.

When I moved to Baltimore City three years ago, I saw many vacant homes in the city and people experiencing homelessness and wondered why we couldn’t use these vacant homes to create housing opportunities for the people who really needed them (in Baltimore City there are approximately 16,000 vacant homes and 13,000 empty lots).

My Leadershape vision is to rehab and fill the vacant homes in Baltimore City, to create housing opportunities for those who need them and to encourage the creation of healthy, vibrant neighborhoods and city schools within the communities. I believe that the issues and problems we see have valuable solutions and can be solved.