At 17 years old, Linda Schellenger gave birth to her son, Sean. As a young woman with a young son, Linda knew that she needed to pave the way for her family’s future. Together, Linda and Sean worked to break that cycle and build a great life.
“He and I were the first college educated in our family,” Linda said. “We both knew that we had the responsibility to be the first in our family. There was just this burning desire to do well.”
Their early life struggles helped shape them. Linda rose to become a CEO, while her son excelled at Penn State University and moved to Philadelphia to begin his own career in real estate development. With every success Linda and Sean accomplished along the way, they never forgot how far they have come. With the support of one another, they could do anything. They were “two peas in a pod.”
“I talked to him every single day of his life,” Linda said. “I’m very lucky because I had 37 years with a wonderful human being and I said ‘I love you’ every single day.”
Sean was killed on July 12, 2018 in Rittenhouse. In 37 years, his life impacted so many, both personally and professionally.
“We had a celebration for life for him rather than a funeral and over 1,000 people came,” Linda said. “He had so many friends and he touched so many people because he had a big personality.”
In 2008, Sean founded his real estate company, Streamline. At the time, he had a “good job” that he quit to begin this company. The risky decision, in the midst of “the worst market ever,” turned out to be the best move for Sean. He worked to build not just homes, but communities. While he did work around the city, he was most passionate about the South Philly neighborhood he called home, Point Breeze.
By 2018, the company had grown to 70 employees, with properties all over Philadelphia. Sean’s days were spent running from meeting to meeting around the city.
“He wasn’t one of the developers coming in to move people out of the neighborhood,” Linda expressed. “It was around inclusion. It was around all of us coming together for a better neighborhood, a safer neighborhood.”
Sean cared first and foremost about the people. Linda cites time after time when Sean would stop what he was doing and spend an hour conversing with those he encountered who were homeless. He wanted to know their stories and, as he would often say to his mother, “I want to inspire people.”
He decided to make an impact by founding Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization launched in 2013. From feeding 100 families Thanksgiving dinner to hosting Easter egg hunts, he strived to “bring the community together.”
“When he grew up, we didn’t have any money, and he wanted to make sure he gave back. That was his mission.”
So when Sean heard a former college friend was getting out of prison after nearly 10 years, he didn’t hesitate to offer him a job and a place to stay.
“Sean was very adamant about it. I was nervous, because I said, ‘He’s been in jail for 10 years, you don’t really know who he is anymore.’ Sean said, ‘No, I know who he is and I know who he was then.’”
He believed that people deserve second chances, and he would do anything he could to help them get back on their feet.
“If he came in here right now, he would give you a hug whether you wanted it or not,” Linda said with a smile. “He was a big teddy bear, very loving, very caring.”
Since his death, Linda has stepped in to help sustain Sean’s company and nonprofit, and the missions they are based on. After retiring from her career last year, Linda started helping Sean and his company twice a week. Now that he’s gone, she has stepped up even more.
“Thank goodness I did, because once he passed, I jumped in to help them run the company, and hopefully keep passing it forward with his mission around really building communities and ensuring that we have diversity and inclusion of all kinds of people.”
Despite his tragic passing, what Sean accomplished in 37 years is no small feat. His company was successful, he helped people whenever he could, and first and foremost, his family was proud of him.
“I think what made him most proud was making me or my mom smile,” Linda said. “He loved his grandmother and if we smiled and he thought we were proud of him, it made him happy.”
Date: 2018-07-12
Location: 1700 Chancellor St., Philadelphia, PA
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