The Homegrown Developers Experience brought together 48 participants across four activities in Martinsville, Danville, and South Boston for a day focused on strengthening the people and connections behind Southern Virginia’s housing future.
Participants heard from housing experts and practitioners about the realities of development, available resources and pathways for moving projects forward. Just as important, the experience created space for current and aspiring developers, housing professionals and community partners to build relationships, exchange ideas and learn from one another.
Participants consistently pointed to the networking opportunities and access to practical information from both experts and early-stage practitioners as some of the most valuable parts of the experience.
As one participant shared, “Thank you for including me in the opportunity to learn about the local emerging developer program held last week. I learned a lot in the session.”
The day demonstrated the value of bringing resources and expertise directly into the region while creating opportunities for local people to play an active role in addressing Southern Virginia’s housing needs. The experience wasn’t just about building more housing. It was about building the local capacity, relationships, and knowledge needed to make that housing possible.
Homegrown Developers Experience was presented by Locus in partnership with LISC Virginia and Virginia Housing.