City allows non-profit Voyage Wilmington to lease building for $1 per year

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The City of Wilmington approved an agreement with the former Blue Ribbon Commission to lease the city’s Hemenway Community Center to prevent violence for $1 per year.

The commission is now know as Voyage Wilmington.

It teaches leadership and life skills to disadvantage youth. They recently expanded to a second location at the Harrelson Center.

Executive Director Genna Wirth says the $1 rent lets them bring on new staff and promotes growth so they can serve a larger portion of the community.

“We’ve done great work in the past but there’s still so much work to be done and we are really motivated with this vote, we’re motivated with our expansion that we’ve had recently,” Wirth said. “We’re just going to keep on doing what we’re doing and serving our community and our youth and continuing to offer those great programs.”

Wirth says she would like to see one or two more locations in the next 10 years.