SBNDC Spotlight: Coleman Flaherty

Coleman Flaherty has come full circle at South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation. 

Coleman, 24, started at SBNDC at age 12 as a Youth Ambassador. He is now the full-time assistant property manager. 

“I’m very thankful for the time that I have been able to spend at South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation,” Coleman said. “I just really hope that we can further develop the community.”

Working under property manager Michelle Zenga, Coleman contacts potential renters, helps with paperwork if needed, and does miscellaneous things to help individuals with the process. SBNDC oversees roughly 180 apartments, he said.

Coleman, 24, graduated from Florida Tech in 2020 with a degree in psychology. 

When he graduated from Florida Tech, he reached out to SBNDC to see if they had any spare hours. He started out at 10 hours a week but the need for his services allowed him to go full time in September 2020. 

Coleman, the son of James and Debra Flaherty, worked at SBNDC every summer of his youth.

Being a Youth Ambassador “helped me build confidence,” Coleman said. “It helped instill a good work ethic. I didn’t really think too much outside of myself until I started doing the program.”

 At 19, he became SBNDC’s garden manager for the summers between 2017-2019. His duties included maintaining the garden plots on West Broadway, the garden at the D Street Fire Department, and, for a time, the D Street garden. He also worked with businesses on West Broadway to keep the streets looking nice.

Coleman, who grew up in and still lives in South Boston, said the favorite part of his assistant property management job is talking with the tenants. “They’re very grateful when you have responsive management,” he said.

When Coleman, a big movie buff, isn’t working, he likes to find classic movies in video stores. Yes, video stores do still exist, he said, you just have to find them.

Coleman is grateful to be part of “a really great team” at SBNDC. “The work we do really is something that’s way too necessary, especially in current times. The middle class has disappeared and the lower class, too. So we’re trying to preserve that.”