Jumpstart West Philly
Jumpstart West Philly empowers West Philadelphia community members to be the developers of their own communities through entrepreneurial, community-oriented real estate development. Jumpstart West Philly is modeled after PhillyOfficeRetail's Jumpstart Germantown program, with an emphasis on training, networking, mentoring, and financing.
Jumpstart West Philly was launched via a collaborative partnership between The Enterprise Center, People’s Emergency Center, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, and other West Philadelphia supporting partners, with initial funding support from Philadelphia LISC. The launch of the program stemmed from initial conversations and collaboration through the West Philadelphia Promise Zone Housing Committee.
Training
Jumpstart West Philly training sessions provide West Philadelphia community members with a thorough introduction to the ins and outs of local property investing, with an emphasis on residential rehab projects. This includes lessons on strategy, property sourcing, financing and cost estimation, design and construction, and leasing and selling property. Training participants are also exposed to guest speakers and given the opportunity to connect with established local developers.
Jumpstart West Philly runs several training cohorts a year, with training participants expected to commit to attending to 4 multi-hour class sessions held once per week over 4 weeks. To learn more about our application process, check the Apply page.
Networking
A key component of the Jumpstart model is to provide opportunities for established and would-be developers to connect with and learn from one another. Jumpstart West Philly hopes to foster a network of local developers who share information and think critically about the impact they have on the communities they invest in. To stay in the loop about Jumpstart West Philly networking events and resources, submit your information via the Contact page.
Financing
Jumpstart West Philly collaborates with lending partners to make alternative financing options available to graduates of our training program. We recognize that access to capital is a critical barrier to entry in real estate development, and we will continue to explore options to make financing more accessible to investors interested in responsible, community-oriented real estate development. Currently, to access the Jumpstart Philly Loan Program, one must be a graduate of a Jumpstart training program.