Baltimore Social Innovation Journal, Fall 2016 Fall 2016 | Page 9

NA ME: Shelley Halstead
INNOVATI ON: Teaching black women the nuts and

bolts of home building and ownership

A G E: 46
HO ME: Marble Hill
O CCUPATI ON : Carpenter, Lawyer
HO BBI ES: Running, reading, attending museum

talks, live music

FU N FACT: Likes to hang out at a plumbing store on
Pennsylvania Avenue and shoot the breeze with the
guys there.
T W ITTER HANDLE: @blackwomenbuild

partnering with other professionals to coach
them in nutrition, parenting, budgeting, and
other life skills. Just as she bought her own
house (for cash, no less) in Baltimore, she
will buy a house for these women to work on
in what she anticipates will be a year-long
project.
“These skills can be taught,” says
Halstead, “and you can have a sense of
ownership. What does it take for us as black
women to thrive? How can we create intergenerational wealth, something for you
to pass on to your family? That’s what I’m
training them to do.”

B A LTI M OR E SOC I A L I N N O VAT I O N JO U R N A L