Lawrence D. “Larry” Wilder Jr.’s focus and passion these days is revitalization. The 55-year-old son of former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and retiring Richmond Treasurer Eunice M. Wilder loves his volunteer work as board chairman of the Southside Community Development and Housing Corp., a nonprofit that helps first-time buyers achieve their dream of home ownership.

Home ownership, Mr. Wilder notes, is the largest source of household wealth in the United States.

SCDHC, he explains, helps low- and moderate-income individuals and families gain the resources necessary to become self-sufficient. During SCDHC’s 25-year history, the organization has built more than 300 single-family homes throughout Metro Richmond and offered down payment and closing cost assistance.

The staff helps people with pre-purchase counseling and education, financial literacy training, and mortgage default and foreclosure prevention counseling.

“Hearing a home buyer talk about the challenges they faced and overcame in order to buy his or her home never gets old,” he says.

As chair of the 10-person board of directors, Mr. Wilder leads a group committed to building sustainable communities in Richmond.

“We are working on building the capacity to do projects requiring additional (cash) reserves, and becoming more organized to cultivate donors,” he says. “My job is to help lead and inspire our board to do that, and it starts with each of us participating.”

At 11:30 a.m. Friday, June 9, SCDHC will hold a ceremony breaking ground for its newest project — Matthews at Chestnut Hill, a 32-home development in the historic Chestnut Hill district of Highland Park. The ceremony will be held at 1121 Daniel St.

The 3.5-acre site in the predominantly African-American neighborhood was once home to dilapidated multifamily rental units that have been demolished. The $7.4 million project is being funded in part with a $1.4 million federal loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and money from the City of Richmond, a Community Development Block Grant and Housing Opportunities Made Equal.

The new homes will include 16 duplexes. All the homes are to be sold to individuals and families with incomes at or below 80 percent of the areas’s median income.

“Highland Park is on the uptick,” Mr. Wilder says. “You’re not going to always be able to find the most pristine locations, but trying to get areas that are affordable and on the uptick is key to redevelopment,” he says.

The impact of the housing crisis that arose in 2008 and 2009, and the recession that followed, continue to plague African-American families and their access to loans for affordable home ownership.

According to a report for The Partnership for Housing Affordability, about 35 percent of all households in the Greater Richmond area pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing. About 15 percent of all households use more than 50 percent of their income for housing. These residents may face major challenges in affording basic necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. For many, home ownership is out of reach.

SCDHC is working to overcome this incredible challenge, Mr. Wilder says. It all begins with finding new approaches to funding.

“In a nutshell, affordable housing developers need for more nonprofits to figure out how to become self-sustaining,” he says. “One way is through venture funding that will fund projects for not just one year, but two or three, enabling us to get more funding at better rates over time, having a better impact, helping more citizens.”

Meet this week’s Personality and affordable housing advocate, Lawrence D. “Larry” Wilder Jr.:

Community involvement: Chair of the board of directors of the Southside Community Development and Housing Corp.

Occupation: Adviser for social entrepreneurship and innovation to Virginia’s secretary of commerce and trade.

Date and place of birth: Feb. 17 in Richmond.

Current residence: South Side Richmond.

Education: Bachelor’s in economics, University of Virginia; juris doctorate, U.Va. School of Law; and MBA, University of Southern California.

Family: Single with no children.

Southside Community Development and Housing Corp.’s mission: To develop quality residential and commercial projects, and provide supportive resources, services and programs, throughout the Central Virginia region.

No. 1 program today: Development of single-family homes.

SCDHC’s top challenge: In a word, it’s sustainability. The Virginia Community Development Corporation’s Nonprofit Sustainability Challenge is part of the solution. Through this program, SCDHC identifies major performance improvements with related quantifiable results. SCDHC is looking to generate more flexible funding through fee-based services that enable it to build its management infrastructure in addition to — and in support of — delivering programs.

Status of affordable housing in area: Affordable housing has become central to community development as housing cost burdens have become more widespread and begun to affect both community resilience and economic development.

How housing market has changed over the past few years: The aftermath of the housing bubble collapse and the Great Recession led to an economic environment characterized by slow growth, eroded household net worth, strict lending standards and tight credit.

No. 1 budgetary challenge in this economy: It’s an issue of employment and income. If you are making less than 30 percent of the area median family income, it’s difficult to build anything affordable.

How I start the day: Remembering “the four agreements” from the book by that name by Don Miguel Ruiz:

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don’t take anything personally.

3. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Always do your best.

A perfect day for me is: Adhering to “the four agreements.”

A favorite Richmond gem is: The Virginia Capital Trail — the Cap2Cap Trail.

If I had more time, I would: Travel, specifically, take a trip around the world.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Cycling. I love getting out on my bike.

Kindergarten taught me: Heartbreak. I had quite the crush on my teacher, and when she moved to another state, I was inconsolable.

A quote that I am inspired by is: “... Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” — James Baldwin.

My friends describe me as: “Eccentric” would be a charitable way to sum up their descriptions.

A way that I find to unwind is: Writing satiric faux news pieces. I don’t do it for public consumption but to express thoughts while amusing myself. Otherwise, I might binge on YouTube to see videos that have no redeeming value other than I find them hilarious.

The top of my “to do” list is: Completing the century bike ride on the Cap2Cap Trail (100 miles from Richmond to Williamsburg and back to Richmond).

The persons who influenced me the most: My mother and father. I reflect how differing and sometimes opposite or contrary influences are actually complementary, interconnected and interdependent.

Book that influenced me the most: “Notebooks for an Ethics” by Jean-Paul Sartre.

What I’m reading now: “Political Fictions” by Joan Didion and “The Startup Checklist” by David S. Rose.

Next goal: To create a business accelerator dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurs, particularly those of color, who are creating a product, service or technology that improves lives in measurable ways in addition to providing a return on investment. It would support entrepreneurs by surrounding them with the right access to resources, mentors, business fundamentals, community partners, capital sources — anything they need to succeed.