Home is Where the People Who Love You Are

When Lyvonne Bovell moved to Winston-Salem from Chicago in 2015, she was planning to slowly retire from a successful career in commercial real estate. Shortly after joining United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church (UMMBC), she was called back to the development world by her congregation’s desire to go beyond the sanctuary to support the community. Lyvonne recalled the early vision, sharing, “One Sunday after church, I stood in the parking lot and looked across route 52, toward a thriving downtown. I thought, how can we bring that success to this neighborhood? How can we build a bridge to East Winston-Salem?”

It’s true that harmful practices of the past such as redlining, urban renewal, and segregation have left parts of Winston-Salem behind in terms of development and investment. The construction of highways like route 52 disconnected East Winston-Salem from the city’s economic core, which continues to shape where people live and what opportunities are available to them even today. And in recent years, the cost of housing has skyrocketed, pricing many families out of safe and affordable housing options.

A dream to shift this dynamic and create a thriving community of hope and health is what inspired UMMBC to secure control of the adjacent properties around their sanctuary back in 2014. Building homes to be healthy, affordable, and accessible felt like the most impactful way to make it happen. The church also knew that reversing the legacy of discrimination would require a mission-aligned collaborative effort. That’s where the insight of Lyvonne and the leadership of the church came in handy; they knew that it would take intentional partners to bring this dream to life. “It wasn’t about putting up apartment buildings, it was about creating a community,” she shared.

By the time Lyvonne met Jaron Norman of Liberty Atlantic in 2019, she knew she’d found the perfect developer and contractor to complete the vision. With the church and developer footing the initial predevelopment costs, phase one the development was now underway. They secured additional investments from Atrium Health, APG Capital, and Catalyst Impact to close the deal—resulting in a community of 198 below-market rate apartments and townhomes ideal for the city’s most essential workers and learners.

"The Foundation provided a $50,000 grant and a $1 million impact investment when few others were willing to commit. Their support was catalytic, helping us unlock an additional $30 million of investment."

Phase two would result in over 320 apartment homes available below market rate, including multiuse, micro-retail spaces on each floor and at ground level. To bring it all together, they partnered with The Maya Angelou Research Center for Healthy Communities to develop a signature connector space that would promote health access and onsite care navigation. An early investment partner in the second phase was crucial to continuing the momentum. “The Winston-Salem Foundation’s impact investing program was a perfect, mission-aligned solution,” said Liberty Atlantic CEO Jaron Norman. “The Foundation provided a $50,000 grant and a $1 million impact investment when few others were willing to commit. Their support was catalytic, helping us unlock an additional $30 million of investment to ultimately bring the full mission and vision of the church to life.”

Ongoing partnerships with Atrium Health and Winston-Salem State University have allowed Metropolitan Village to center the needs of essential workers like nurses, police officers, and teachers at every turn. “It’s the single largest private investment ever made in East Winston-Salem,” said Jaron. “So, it was important for us to invest in the whole neighborhood including streetscape improvements, enhancements to local childcare facilities, and security. Through intentional investment, we’ve been able to reduce the area crime rate by 42%.” A grant from the Foundation helped fund these improvements, demonstrating how investments in high-opportunity neighborhoods can create ripple effects that make our whole community stronger.

Jaron added, “We believe in asset-based community development, meaning we look for community builders who have lived in and loved the neighborhood to be part of the project. Our Community Manager, Tracey Wolfe, grew up in East Winston-Salem. She brings a level of care to the community that is unmatched.”

Lyvonne, who now serves as COO at Liberty Atlantic, continues to be deeply involved in the project, cultivating a true community atmosphere. She’s often working on a tight timeline to furnish apartments for incoming residents who need to find an affordable home quickly for work or evolving life circumstances—always adding meaningful touches to make it feel like home. Lyvonne emphasized, “Metropolitan Village is more than a development of houses; it’s about addressing the spectrum of social determinants and critical gaps in care. We are setting a precedent for how communities can align housing, health access, and workforce stability to create a measurable, scalable system that benefits the community.”