Community Partners history

About two decades later, the First Baptist Church (FBC) again took a bold step, creating Beverly’s Turtle Creek, which broke ground in 1981, to house low and fixed income seniors.

Jim and Patty Rouse founded Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. (then named The Enterprise Foundation) in 1982.

Housing Partnership (HP) was formed in 1986 after a Palm Beach County Affordable Housing Task Force recommended that the county form a public-private partnership to address the need for affordable housing in the county.

Originally developed in 1988, the condominiums are sold to first-time homebuyers earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.

In 1996 Housing Partnership was honored to be named a chartered affiliate of the national NeighborWorks America, created and funded by the United States Congress to promote neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing.

Nexus began as Payne-Lake Community Partners in 2004, a community development initiative created to connect communities of color and immigrant communities to the economic and political systems of power along two strategic corridors: Payne Avenue in St Paul and Lake Street in Minneapolis.

In 2008, the non profit boards that operated these individual facilities proactively leveraged the combined years of experience to form a stronger, regional North Shore affordable housing organization.

Through this merger, on January 1, 2009, Harborlight Community Partners came to be; subsequently, by merger, several smaller organizations sought the stability and strength of this combined organization.

Rockport: December of 2011, following a multi-year effort, and thanks in large part to the Town of Rockport’s investment through the Community Preservation Fund and the Rockport Housing Partnership, HCP acquired Pigeon Cove Ledges, offering 30 units of elder affordable housing.

Beverly: In 2013, HCP wins federal, corporate, local and state support to renovate and financially restructure Turtle Creek.

In late 2014, HCP received an award from DHCD of $3,00,000 to renovate Harborlight House (HLH). The award also provided 30 project-based MRVPs (MA Rental Voucher Program) to ensure the affordability of each unit, safeguarding the housing needs of very low-income, frail seniors.

Scott Hansel, a senior executive with more than 30 years of diverse leadership experience in both large and small corporations as well as start-up businesses, was selected by the CPSFL board of directors after an extensive nationwide search to take the role of CEO in June 2017.

In May 2019, CPSFL took the next steps in the journey to unite as one organization going forward rather than simply functioning as one by unveiling a new logo to reflect its rebranded name: Community Partners of South Florida.