Kevin used his CPI course project as an opportunity to create a proposal to train high school students to become real estate developers. The idea, which he dubbed the “South Philadelphia Real Estate Institute,” draws on his previous career as a science teacher and current career as a real estate agent. His goal is to “design and develop both properties and people.”
In his project, Kevin outlined the program as an internship in which students would help with everything from the ground-up development to the eventual sale of constructed units. In return, students would receive a percentage of the profit of the properties on which they worked.
The idea came from conversations he had with youth in Passyunk Square.
I had a long discussion with kids in my neighborhood and realized they were asset-poor, and that they couldn’t distinguish a nonperforming asset from an appreciating one (such as a car vs. a house).
Kevin hopes to make the program a reality in the future! Currently, he is busy serving as an elected member of the Neighborhood Advisory Subcommittee for South Kensington Community Partners, as a former resident of the neighborhood. There, he helps run biannual special awareness projects and is active in many zoning meetings, and credits CPI with his ability to participate fully:
It’s because of my CPI class that I am able to understand the planning and zoning projects that come for approval.