The new year is an opportunity to pause and reflect on all we accomplished last year and explore what lies ahead.  

2023 was a momentous year for the Partnership, characterized by change and growth, successes, and challenges. Here are a few standout highlights and a sneak peak at our plans for the new year.

The Partnership Wrapped: Best of 2023

It’s hard to believe January is here and 2024 has begun! The new year is an opportunity to pause and reflect on all we accomplished last year and explore what lies ahead.  

2023 was a momentous year for the Partnership, characterized by change and growth, successes, and challenges. Here are a few standout highlights as we look back on last year:

Staffing up: The Partnership staff grew from 2 to 5 – we have big Vision 2030 goals and a lot of work to do to meet them! We’ve hired new faces to bring new professional experiences and capacity to our team.  

Lifting off: The Community Preservation Trust launched in 2023 with the hire of Daniel Cunningham as its Executive Director and Tawfiq Abdul-Karim as Senior Associate. The Trust is actively buying and selling homes in College Park – if you’re looking for more information about participating in the Trust, check out the Trust’s website and reach out to schedule a call.  

Reaching out: We completed our eighth year of helping new homeowners buy homes in College Park, reaching a total of 82 homeowners! Our Homeownership Program is a state and national model. We are proud of our contributions to attract new homeowners to our neighborhoods. We spent months working with our cross-sector committees to develop a plan to expand participation even more in 2024! Stay tuned for a big announcement later this month! 

Celebrating together: Trolley Trail Day 2023 was held on June 8th and it was a huge success! After a pandemic-related hiatus, Trolley Trail Day was back and bigger than ever. This event is a celebration of the connections between College Park and our neighboring cities along the Route 1 corridor – physical, psychological and social. We welcomed nearly 1,500 participants to the day-long festivities and handed out nearly 1,000 T-shirts along the way.  

We are grateful for your participation in our work towards shared goals for College Park’s future. We are eager to continue to champion our initiatives, foster innovation, and reinforce our commitment to the College Park community.

Susan Hartmann, Executive Director, The Partnership

Looking back on 2023, we are filled with gratitude for your support and participation in our work towards shared goals for College Park’s future. We are also reminded of the passing of Richard Wagner, the Partnership’s Board Chair and long-time community leader. Richard was a vocal advocate for our work, and for strengthening our role as College Park’s leading community development nonprofit. Since his passing, the Partnership Board selected long-time Lakeland resident and activist, Maxine Gross, as Board Chair. We look forward to Maxine’s leadership as we continue our work to realize the goals articulated in Vision 2030. 

As we look ahead to a promising 2024, we would like to extend our warmest thanks to you all for your continued support and partnership! For a sneak peek of all the exciting this we have planned check out this article.  


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The Community Preservation Trust is now accepting applications! For more information, visit: