Delaware

Springboard Collaborative takes aim at homelessness

Published

2 years ago

March 4, 2024

Springboard Collaborative takes aim at homelessness

The Springboard Collaborative aims to address homelessness by introducing small villages to house those in need – and provide support services right there. | PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE

GEORGETOWN – About a year ago, the Springboard Village opened 40 small cottages in Georgetown, each with heating and air conditioning as well as comprehensive care and meals. Today, that project launched by the Springboard Collaborative, has helped more than 90 people who have left the village since — and many have found housing outside the village or jobs on their own.

It’s part of a larger picture that Springboard Collaborative Executive Director Judson Malone hopes to find a creative solution for homelessness in Delaware.

“Delaware is a surprisingly diverse state, when you think about it. There’s Wilmington and there’ rural areas of New Castle County and Sussex, and to the east there’s a vacation community,” Malone said. “In a small state, there’s really a big chance to become an experimental environment for statewide solutions.”

The Springboard Collaborative is a statewide nonprofit that focuses on “dignified dwellings” to help residents experiencing housing insecurity and economic hardships. With partners across the state, the collaborative is inspired by Denmark and Finland’s “housing first” strategy. In exchange for providing housing, the resident agrees to work with the community services.

Those services include case workers, health services, as well as job training and financial training. In March 2023, Del-One Federal Credit Union partnered with the Springboard Collective to help open bank accounts for residents, for example.

“The idea is that you have people in a safe environment, some for the first time in many years, and they have their basic needs met,” Malone said. “Once they’re there, they can start to focus on other needs. After a few weeks, we’ve had residents that decide to go into drug treatment.”

The Springboard Collaborative’s mission inspired former Del-One FCU President and CEO Ron Barron to volunteer his time after he retired last year, among other partners like the Schell Brothers, Del-One FCU contributed $365,000 in construction costs for the Georgetown village. Today, Baron serves on the collaborative’s board.

“I see Springboard as truly a model that will continue to make a huge difference in ending homelessness, and ending homelessness is a personal objective of mine,” Baron said. “We’re talking about human beings that are being respected and helped through a period of time in their life. The goal is to help them along, because they want a fair chance at life.”

Delaware’s latest housing needs assessment found that the state needs to add 1,200 affordable units per year to keep up with current demand. Right now, roughly 50,000 renters in Delaware are cost-burdened, defined as paying more than 30% of their gross income on utilities, rent and more, while 25,000 renters are severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50% of their gross income in household costs.

Baron said that through adding more projects much like the Georgetown one, the Springboard will help reduce the existing pressure for the affordable housing already on the market.

“What’s really encouraging is to see that, looking at the statistics of those who left the community, they’re doing well when they transition out,” he added.

The Springboard Collaborative is not without critics; its proposed project in Milford was put on hold after the city residents voiced their disapproval to use city tax dollars to support the project. Other criticisms note that the village does not explicitly prohibit drug abuse or require drug testing.

But Malone believes that Springboard’s model of providing a safe place will enable its residents to make “intelligent choices about managing their future.” Navigators are also on site to help provide guidance on available programs.

“The idea is to provide the motivation on what’s holding them back,” he said. “The success rate goes up exponentially in any program when it’s made of their own choice rather than by force.”

The Springboard Collaborative is having active conversations with partners in Wilmington on working together. For more information, visit www.the-springboard.org.

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Delaware

Thomas Jefferson University to run Delaware’s first medical school

Published

3 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Press Room

Thomas Jefferson University to run Delaware’s first medical school

Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.

Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.

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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.

The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.

“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”

The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.

“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”

Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.

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Delaware

Delaware is getting its first medical school, with classes set to start in 2028

Published

13 hours ago

June 2, 2026

Press Room

Delaware is getting its first medical school, with classes set to start in 2028

Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.

However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.

“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”

Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.

Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.

The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.

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