& MORE ... Norfolk Cuts Ribbon On 164-Unit Affordable Housing Community

NORFOLK

Norfolk civic and business leaders joined Norfolk city and state officials and partners in celebrating the Grand Opening and ribbon cutting of Market Heights Apartments, a new 100% affordable apartment community in Norfolk’s St. Paul’s District.

“One of the things that’s special about Market Heights is that it’s truly indistinguishable from luxury apartments.”, said Lawson President and CEO, Carl Hardee. “It has a great location, great architecture, great amenities, and will provide great service to its residents.”

Market Heights Apartments is a 164-unit multifamily community serving individuals and families earning 40%, 50%, and 60% AMI with affordable 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments featuring amenities comparable to nearby market rate apartments. Rents range from $591-$1,290. Seventeen apartments are handicappedaccessible Section 504 compliant units and 80 units include Universal Design components. Lawson partnered with Hope House and Volunteers of America Chesapeake and Carolinas to provide onsite supportive services to residents with developmental disabilities and mobility impairments. Hope House will also manage a $100,000 grant from LISC Hampton Roads powered by Sentara Health to fund community programming benefitting all residents, including a food pantry and telehealth booth.

Community amenities at Market Heights include a resident community room, secure building access, elevators, fitness center, playground, on-site laundry, indoor and outdoor bicycle storage, and a dog park. Apartment amenities include granite kitchen countertops, in-unit washer/dryer hookups, and modern kitchens. The buildings were built to energy efficient Earthcraft-certified standards.

“Market Heights is not only a 164-unit complex, it’s an over $34 million investment, it created over 300 construction jobs, and there will be more than eight permanent jobs here on this campus”, said Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander. “Let’s continue to work together to build the city that we want to see in the future.”

Market Heights is the first property approved under Norfolk’s new resiliency code. This code mandates specific resilient measures that apply to flooding, energy efficiency, and building integrity. The project site has been raised out of the flood plain and includes a new public sidewalk that improves safety for students walking to the neighboring Ruffner Middle School.

“Everyone is not going to be a bazillionaire, but everyone deserves quality in their home.”, said 90th State District Del. Angelia Williams Graves. “Lawson, along with these partners, have provided that here at Market Heights. Thank you so much for investing in Norfolk, believing in Norfolk, and helping us solve a little bit of our affordable housing issues.”

Huntington High School Alumni Host 10th Scholarship Awards Program

Special to the GUIDE

NEWPORT NEWS

The Huntington High School Alumni Association, Inc. (HHSAA INC) held its 10th annual reunion June 10. During that event it also held its annual scholarship awards program at the United House of Prayer for All People in Newport News. Over 70 members of the Association attended the joyous occasion where five scholarship recipients were selected from 10 finalists for a $1,000.00 award. Scholarship Committee Chairman, James Lovett, Jr., said this was the most competitive and compelling group of applicants he has had the honor to review. Collis P. Huntington High School, commonly referred to as just Huntington High School (opened in 1927) was a Black high school located in the East End section of Newport News, Virginia, during the era of racial segregation. After desegregation, it became an integrated intermediate school (eighth and ninth grades), and in 1981 was converted to a middle school (sixth through eighth grades). The school was named after the shipping and railroad pioneer, Collis P. Huntington, who founded the local shipyards, the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, at one time the largest shipbuilding concern in the world.

New Child Development Centers Opening On Tcc Campuses

HAMPTON ROADS

Tidewater Community College announced recently it is opening new TCC Child Development Centers on the Portsmouth and Norfolk Campuses starting Fall Semester 2023. The centers will be open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for children ages 3 to 5 years of TCC students, with afterschool and drop-in care available for children up to 12 years of age of TCC students. Full-time students with a FAFSA on file with the Financial Aid office are eligible to apply for child care scholarships.

In addition, students can use financial aid to cover child care costs. Students can authorize TCC to charge the cost of child care services to their remaining financial aid, after the cost of tuition, fees and any bookstore charges have been deducted.

TCC also is able to offer the Child Care Access Means Parents (CCAMPIS) in School scholarships. Students with children and financial needs can receive reduced or no-cost child care. The scholarship are open for applications between June 15, 2023 - Aug. 25, 2023.

The first center will open on the Portsmouth Campus in mid-August followed by a second location on the Norfolk Campus opening in January 2024. The Child Development Centers will be staffed by TCC’s Early Childhood Development program alumni and students. They will focus on teaching children school readiness and important skills through play.

Ciera Streeter, director of TCC’s Childhood Development Centers, urges all students with children ages 3-5 to apply for this opportunity. She said, “Parents will be able to attend in-person classes, complete internships or program