WILMINGTON, Del. - Four finalists in the Reinventing Delaware program from the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation have been chosen for their innovations and ideas aimed at creating jobs and making Delaware a better place to live, work, and raise a family. One project selected would address homelessness in Sussex County.
Jeffrey Ronald and Jason Malone's project is Zero Homelessness, Full Employment. Their plan, which would move homeless Delawareans into heated cabins with employment and educational services onsite, received the most votes from the audience at the Nov. 10 Reinventing Delaware Dinner. Ronald is the CEO of The Springboard Collaborative, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes resources to ensure housing and health equity for all Delawareans and has been working on the pallet shelter village in Georgetown. The initiative is being piloted in Sussex County, with hope to launch the program statewide with the foundation's support.
"The Springboard Collaborative is energized and honored to team up with Reinventing Delaware for collective impact," said Ronald. "Together as a benevolent force-multiplier, we can measurably end homelessness in the First State, empower disadvantaged Delawareans to cultivate a better life, and build more vibrant communities across our three counties."
Another project is Attract Delaware, a plan by Scott Malfitano that would incentivize workers to move to Dover from out of state, similar to a plan for Tulsa, Oklahoma, that attracted over 2,000 people to the city with an 88% retention rate.
Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing from Andrew Cottone, president and CEO of chemistry solution company Adesis, is a project that focuses on generating clean hydrogen from water to help Delaware become a leader in energy.
The last finalist is Allison Levine with Spotlight Delaware. Levine is the president and founder of the Local Journalism Initiative and vice president for marketing and communications at the Delaware Community Foundation. Her plan includes a nonprofit newsroom that would work with existing media to increase government oversight and access to information on how policy affects Delawareans, especially in underserved areas.
Levine said she is "excited to partner with the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation to launch this new collaborative newsroom, build up our local news and information ecosystem for all Delaware communities, and create a model that can be replicated around the country."
Reinventing Delaware has prompted change throughout the state for the past eight years, helping to shift several noteworthy ideas into businesses like NERDiT Now, Intern Delaware, and the Delaware Collective for a Creative Economy.
Over the next few months, the four finalists and their teams will work closely with the foundation and local firms to develop strategic plans to scale their businesses. At the end, one winner will be announced later this year and will receive a $15,000 investment from the foundation to facilitate their work.