On Wednesday, October 9, 2024, SERCAP’s Board of Directors, along with several staff and funding partners, participated in the agency’s Annual Board Tour of Projects. Every year during the October Board Meeting, SERCAP organizes a Tour of Projects for its Board of Directors, so they have the opportunity to visit the rural communities SERCAP is serving first-hand, speak to clients, and ask questions about the agency’s work and long-term impact. SERCAP rotates the Board Tour by State, and this year the Board visited projects in both Eastern Maryland and Delaware.
The morning kicked-off with a presentation by SERCAP Team Member, Brian Brown, and Jeff Smith, the proprietor and founder of Cast 26 Coffee Roasters, where they shared Cast 26’s journey through SERCAP’s Business Services Program. Board and Staff were then joined by three representatives from USDA Rural Development and a representative from EPA for the tour of a Mobile Home Community in Georgetown, DE. The Mobile Home Community has been struggling with their current septic tank system, and SERCAP has been providing Technical Assistance (TA) to help them transition to a centralized system. At lunch at The Golden Eagle Diner, the head of the Chesapeake Ag Innovation Center (CAIC) shared information about their partnership with SERCAP’s Business Services Program. The Tour of Projects then closed out with a visit to the Twin Cities Wastewater Treatment Plant in Secretary, MD, where the Board had the opportunity to hear about SERCAP’s impact on the project directly from the Mayor of the Town of Secretary. Overall, it was a successful Board Tour of Projects, which illustrated the positive outcomes that SERCAP helps its clients and communities achieve.
Without SERCAP’s full slate of Programs and Services, both rural communities and low-to-moderate income (LMI) individuals would be forced to go without such necessities as adequate water/wastewater infrastructure, clean drinking water, reliable access to safe and affordable housing, indoor plumbing, community development, and other critical infrastructure needs. It is important to remember that even in the United States in the 21st Century; there are those who do not have reliable access to clean, safe drinking water, environmentally sound septic facilities, and affordable housing. In order to help SERCAP provide assistance to both communities and individuals in need, please consider making a gift to SERCAP’s Annual Fund! Give Today: https://sercap.org/give-now.
*Funding for SERCAP’s Programs and Services in MD and DE is provided by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Community Services’ (OCS) Grant, USDA RD’s Technitrain Program,the Drinking Water Compliance Grant throughthe EPA, the EPA Private Well Grant, the USDA RD Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) for MD and DE, and funding support from the Chesapeake Ag Innovation Center. SERCAP is also a sub-grantee of the EFC-UMD, which is funded by a Grant from EPA.