S T O R YOUR

From The Dreams of a Young Man

Who Had Lost His Home

Enterprise grew from one man’s yearning for the home he lost and the

community he left behind.

Born in 1914, Jim Rouse was the youngest of five children in a rising

middle-class family in Easton, Md. Struck by polio as a child, he taught himself

to walk again, and then went on to become a track star in high school. That was

when his family’s fortunes turned. With the start of the Depression, his father’s

business failed. His mother took ill and, soon afterward, so did his father. Both

died within a year, leaving Jim an orphan at the age of 16.

Two months later, the bank foreclosed on the family home.

Jim’s brother and his three sisters made their way out into the world,

scraping together money to send Jim off to a school from which he would return

during vacations to sleep on the floor of a room his brother rented in a boarding

house. Through a sister married to a Navy man, he received free tuition to the

University of Hawaii.

He returned to Baltimore to study law at night while working 100 hours a

week parking cars — even though he had never learned how to drive.

Hard work and ambition made Jim one of the most successful real estate

developers in American history, bringing together people from all walks of life in

places he’d built: housing developments, mixed-income communities, shopping

and business centers, waterfront marketplaces and even an entire planned city.

Then one day in the spring of 1973, three women from his church

approached him with an idea. Where they lived, in the Adams Morgan

neighborhood of Washington, D.C., were two of the worst apartment buildings

they had ever seen, named The Mozart and The Ritz.

Forged With A Lifetime of Experience

Seeing the lack of decent housing for people with very limited means, they

asked a simple question: Why not buy the buildings and fix them up, so people

can live in decent housing with dignity?

His career as a developer gave Jim a hundred reasons why the idea wouldn’t

work. He thought it was crazy and said as much. Thinking that was the end of

it, he was shocked when the three women soon returned. “We did it!” they said.

“Did what?” Jim asked. “We made a down payment on those buildings!”

He was stunned by their audacity. But more than that, he was amazed at

their commitment. Calling their group Jubilee, they had raised funds from

everyone in the church and put down a non-refundable deposit. They were

determined to succeed.

Reflecting on his career, Jim thought about all the places he had built.

Successful as he had been, he knew there were levels of society he had been

unable to reach, our nation’s most impoverished and dispirited neighborhoods.

“Why these conditions? Why this life for the poor in our country?” Jim had

asked in speeches he gave around the nation.

Though he had made many efforts to raise public awareness and engage the

private sector in the problems facing poor neighborhoods, something was always

missing. And whatever that something was, the Jubilee women had it.

Jim knew well what it takes to get deals done — technical expertise,

financing know-how, the right connections, the ability to navigate government

channels and a lot of hard work. What these women had, though, was a critical

link — a fierce dedication to their own neighborhood and a real understanding

of its needs.

So he joined with them as a partner, working alongside the residents to

correct hundreds of housing violations, cleaning up from years of disrepair

and poor management. All together, it took 60,000 hours of work, but they

renovated those buildings. It was the start of a transformation for the Adams

Morgan neighborhood — and the birth of a true social enterprise.

Arose a Vision For The Original Social Enterprise

And so, in 1982 — at the age of 68, after a successful career from which

anyone else might simply have retired with pride — Jim, along with his wife

Patty, embarked on the most ambitious building project of his life.

He would found an organization to seek out and partner with similarly

driven groups all over the country, helping them tap into resources and learn

from each other.

And they would continue working until everyone in our country had a safe,

healthy and affordable place to call home.

To succeed, the organization must function as no organization ever had —

driven by a mission, fueled by business and philanthropy, sustained by public

and private sources, with every dollar working overtime to help people move up

and out of poverty.

When it came time to name the organization, Jim thought of the spirit

that had made our country great in the first place, the spirit that had carried us

through the Depression and two World Wars, the same spirit that had enabled

him to lift himself and his family out of poverty — the spirit of Enterprise.

We all know America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, where you

can work hard and build a good life for yourself and your family. But far too many

neighborhoods in our country lack that opportunity. Government alone cannot

bring it there. Nor can the sole efforts of any business, philanthropy or even the

most dedicated community organization. Only by bringing together all of these

elements and uniting them through a common vision can we transform our

struggling neighborhoods — and that is exactly what we do.

Bringing Together the People and PiecesWe Need

Enterprise is a family of companies working together to build opportunity

in communities across the country. Opportunity begins when people have a

safe, healthy and affordable place to call home. It grows with access to jobs, good

schools, transit and health care.

Within Enterprise are companies that lend funds, finance development,

manage properties and build affordable housing. We partner with national and

local groups that help us create programs to strengthen communities. We advance

policies to increase the supply and quality of affordable housing. And, we make

it possible for individuals and businesses to support housing and community

development by donating charitable dollars and investing in socially responsible

funds and tax credits, all of which translates to real and lasting impact.

The results have been dramatic. For more than 30 years our efforts have created

hundreds of thousands of homes across the country and improved millions of lives.

We have worked in thousands of our nation’s most challenged communities, investing

billions of dollars into their future. We leverage every dollar that comes to us, making

it work smart and work every bit as hard as our employees and our partners.

Though the scope of our work is wide, our approach is simple: First we leverage our

network and our knowledge base to figure out what works — and what does not. Then,

we explore ideas from every angle, innovating new solutions and scaling them up to meet

the needs of communities around the nation. Finally, we tell the story — to our partners,

to the public and to representatives at all levels of government. Working together, we are

creating a movement dedicated to building communities rich with opportunity.

As much progress as we have made together over the years, significant work

remains. Millions of families struggle with housing insecurity, paying too much

of their income on rent or, worse, facing homelessness. Simply put, supply does

not meet demand when it comes to ensuring people in need have access to a

decent, affordable place to call home.

To Transform Today’s Challenges

Yet beneath all this, our country still has what it takes to thrive. Given the

chance, people will climb the ladder of opportunity. But too many of us cannot

secure a stable foundation. And no one can climb up a ladder without reaching

the first rung.

That first rung is home.

And so we will continue working until every person in this country has

a place to call home in a vibrant community, filled with promise and the

opportunity for a good life. Because something happens when we have a

stable and safe home, with access to transportation, employment, health care

and education for our children. Our sense of hope awakens. We begin to see

opportunities. We dream and plan. We build better lives for ourselves, our

families and our neighbors and, ultimately, we build a stronger nation.

Into Tomorrow’s Opportunities

Though our vision is bold, we believe it is absolutely attainable. That’s

because it is powered by America’s greatest untapped resource. It is what has

always lifted us through difficult times, the same force that carried an orphan

through the Depression, and the one that will help restore opportunity in

America — the spirit of Enterprise.

And Home Is Where It All Begins

From the Dreams of a Young Man

Who Had Lost His Home,

Forged With a Lifetime of Experience,

Arose a Vision for the Original Social Enterprise,

Bringing Together the People and Pieces We Need

to Transform Today’s Challenges

into Tomorrow’s Opportunities.

And Home Is Where It All Begins.

www.EnterpriseCommunity.org | www.EnterpriseCommunity.com

©2015 Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. All Rights Reserved.Printed on recycled paper.