Orleans, MA – The Community Development Partnership (CDP) held their 32nd Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 25th, at Wellfleet Preservation Hall. The event highlighted the CDP’s work to support affordable housing and small business development on the Lower and Outer Cape, as well as recognized community leaders and small business owners and provided a forum to elect new board members. This year’s meeting also featured a keynote address by Ed Augustus, the Commonwealth’s first Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities in over 30 years. Secretary Augustus shared the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s plans for unprecedented investments in housing production and new policy initiatives to help Massachusetts communities address the housing affordability crisis.
The CDP Board of Directors unanimously appointed four new members to the CDP Board of Directors:
- Yarmouth resident Johanne Brown owns Mean Ptown Burgers in Provincetown, was a CDP Business & Credit client, and has served on the CDP Advisory Council.
- Wellfleet resident Arthur Huge, a Civil Engineer by training, retired from a 40-year career in corporate leadership with Menasha Corporation, LTV Corporation, and Bethlehem Steel. Since retiring, he has served as a business consultant, a member of the Board of Directors of Wellfleet Preservation Hall, and a member of the CDP’s Finance Committee.
- Brewster resident Fran Schofield, an award-winning REALTOR® with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | Robert Paul Properties also is a board member of several nonprofit and civic organizations on Cape Cod, including Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, Pleasant Bay Community Boating, and the Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative, which she co-founded and co-led for over six years. Fran is a recent past member of the Brewster Vision Planning Committee and a current board member of the Friends of Pleasant Bay and the Cape & Islands Democratic Council.
- Orleans resident Dr. Anne Sigsbee, now retired, is a member of the Barnstable County Medical Reserve Corps and the Right Care Alliance, a grassroots coalition of clinicians, patients, and community members organizing to hold healthcare institutions accountable to communities and make patients, not profits, the heart of healthcare. She also served on the boards of the Lower Cape Outreach Council, the Cape Cod Children’s Place, and Orleans Pond Coalition.
The CDP recognized three residents with its two annual awards, the Gwen Pelletier Award for Excellence in Community Service and the Norm Edinberg Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship.
- Truro resident Michelle Jarusiewicz is this year’s recipient of the Gwen Pelletier Award for Excellence in Community Service. Jarusiewicz served the Town of Provincetown in several roles for over 35 years, including Grant Administrator, Assistant Town Manager, and Interim Assistant Town Manager, before retiring in December 2023. Michelle was Provincetown’s lead staff on housing for more than 15 years and assumed the official role as the Town’s (and the region’s) first Municipal Housing Coordinator in 2015. Under her leadership, the Town of Provincetown has led the Lower and Outer Cape towns in advancing the production of affordable and attainable housing.
- Wellfleet residents Kate Escher-Jacob and Lizzy Escher Kearing, Founders of ARTichoke, received the Norm Edinberg Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship. Kate and Lizzy grew up in Brewster and, in 2011, decided to take their DIY apparel idea from a hobby to a business. They started with a table at local craft fairs, then added a former transportation bus and transformed it into a boutique on wheels, enabling easy travel to events, music festivals, and craft fairs in Boston and throughout the Cape. They opened a brick-and-mortar shop in Eastham, and in 2024, they created a pop-up store in Orleans. They not only sell their own screen-printed creations but also offer locally made goods from other artists and creatives.
Seamen’s Bank and Kerry Insurance Agency sponsored the CDP’s Annual Meeting and Community Awards event.
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP
The Community Development Partnership leads the Lower and Outer Cape in building a diverse year-round community of people who can afford to live, work, and thrive here. To accomplish our mission, we promote, develop, and manage affordable housing; nurture the launch and growth of small businesses; and facilitate collaboration with business, nonprofit, and government partners. To find out more information about Community Development Partnership, visit www.capecdp.org.
This institution is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
