Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Maxwell.
Matt, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After graduating from Penn State with a degree in civil engineering, I went to work in commercial construction in the Mid-Atlantic region. I pursued this career for 17 years before God began to lead me towards a life transition.
Around the age of 35, I was introduced to Benjamin Wills through a mutual connection. At the time, Benjamin was attempting to start Peace Preparatory Academy, a community school in the English Avenue neighborhood of Atlanta. He needed an after-school-program director, and our mutual friend thought I was the perfect fit. After my wife and I traveled to Atlanta for a weekend to explore the potential opportunity, we were convinced that this was the place God wanted us in the next chapter of our lives. Shortly afterward, I left my job in commercial construction and our family moved down south. In 2015, Peace Prep started with its first class of 12 kindergarteners, and I was the after-school-program director.
It wasn’t long into my tenure at Peace Prep that Benjamin and I decided we had to do something about housing if we were going to have a long-term sustainable school model. We were seeing our students and families displaced at an alarming rate due to many of the systemic injustices surrounding housing on our side of town. As we began to address the problem and attempt to buy property, we found that it would be best to establish an additional 501(c)(3) in order to accommodate our real estate needs. We founded oaksATL Community Development as a result. Now I remain on staff as the Director of Community Development at Peace Prep and currently serve as the Executive Director of oaksATL.
It has been a joy to return to my work in construction and engineering now seeking to serve the English Avenue neighborhood and historic Westside of Atlanta. Over the course of the next year, my family plans to become residents of the neighborhood and put down further roots in the community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working in this space for the last 5-7 years, I’ve seen many different roadblocks to creating quality places to live for our neighbors. Currently, we are running up against zoning laws that prevent density and affordable housing development. Additionally, there has historically been a lack of financing models that support quality and affordable small multi-family developments. Our team has to hustle and think creatively in order to complete the financing we need for different projects.
As you know, we’re big fans of oaksATL Community Development. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
oaksATL Community Development is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation aimed to combat community deterioration by providing dignity through quality and affordable housing for residents in English Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods of Atlanta.
Part of what sets oaksATL apart from other housing initiatives is our origin story, roots in the English Avenue neighborhood, and current missional goals. oaksATL was born out of a need that became apparent to the staff and leadership of Peace Preparatory Academy, a neighborhood school founded in 2015 in English Avenue. Peace Prep’s mission is to educate the whole child, support the whole family, and provide growth and change opportunities for the whole community in a high-quality, Christ-centered learning environment. In late 2015, a school family encountered raw sewage freely flowing in front of their apartment building for a month before being repaired, while at the same time a staff family was unable to buy a home in the neighborhood because no homes qualified for a bank loan. These events became the catalyst for establishing oaksATL, which serves three distinctive purposes with our community housing initiative:
1. Provide quality and affordable housing for existing residents of English Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods.
2. Own real estate to ensure residents won’t be forced out by escalating prices and empower our residents to maintain their voice in community redevelopment.
3. Create a passive income stream for a neighborhood school, Peace Preparatory Academy.
We now own and rent 3 multifamily properties (31 units) and 1 single-family home to community members including 7 student families from Peace Prep. We also are licensed general contractors and collaborate on affordable housing projects with missionally aligned developers. For example, we are currently working on several projects in conjunction with WestSide Future Fund that are expanding our work on community retention. We’re excited about how we continue to grow and support our neighborhood. We have 35 affordable housing units and 3 retail spaces that will provide economic opportunities for local business owners in future development.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We’re always grateful to work with other missionally aligned partners on the west side of Atlanta. Similarly, we’re always seeking creative financing opportunities to further small multi-family developments. Finally, we are also set up as a 501(c)(3) organization and take donations in order to keep the cost of our rental units at an extremely affordable rate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.oaksatl.com
