“Sulton” of Stewardship: Treasurer and Ward 6 Board Member Robert Sulton

A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Robert Sulton currently serves as Treasurer for the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods Board of Directors. If there’s one thing that sums up Sulton’s journey from his birthplace in Rolling Fork, Mississippi to his longtime home in the Jackson area, it is his wholehearted embrace of Stewardship.

Sulton rolled into Jackson by way of a full scholarship to Jackson State University. By the time he graduated, the city felt like home. Now he has lived in the Jackson area for the last 25 years. In 2007, he and his family moved into a house they had built in South Jackson’s Heritage Estates neighborhood. He laments that houses being built in Jackson is something much less common now than it once was, especially South Jackson, arguably one of the city’s largest areas.

For the last 35 years, Sulton has worked as an auditor and accountant with an independent CPA firm. That professional discipline combined with his church life is what led to his lifetime of Stewardship. For nearly 20 years, he has served as finance ministry chair at Greater Pearlie Grove Missionary Baptist Church (GPG). When the congregation outgrew their original sanctuary on Grand Avenue in West Jackson, he was instrumental in the church’s successful move to a new sanctuary on West County Line Road in 2012. GPG later acquired a former Southern Farm Bureau property to convert into a youth and training facility. Sulton credits these seemingly insular developments for getting him more involved in the Jackson community.

“What got me most involved with the community, to be honest, was probably through church,” he said. “We try to do a lot of things within the community.”

Some of that work includes a church-connected community development corporation. Greater Pearlie Grove has acquired lots in West Jackson off McGavock Avenue with plans to build new houses exclusively for sale to people who want to be homeowners.

“We know there’s a lack of housing for people to purchase in the city,” Sulton said. “Hopefully this will help us to move the value of those neighborhoods up and to create more homeowners…because we seem to be at a point where we’re creating more permanent renters rather than homeowners.”

In addition to encouraging homeownership in Jackson, the church also runs a program called the Power of Five, asking members to give $5 each month so the congregation can support a different nonprofit. That’s where Jackson Association of Neighborhoods enters the picture: JAN was one of last year’s recipients. The association later held meetings at the church’s youth and training facility.

Sulton had been introduced to JAN through former board member Fran Bridges, someone he’d known professionally for years. At the time, he was president of the Heritage Estates HOA and saw the board as a way to draw more attention to South Jackson.

 “A lot of people don’t know South Jackson has the second (or it may be tied for first) largest number of actual homeowners in the city. One of the reasons that it caught my interest to be on the board when I was asked was: hopefully I could bring some attention to this large area of the city that often seems to be ignored.”

As HOA president, Sulton worked with neighboring groups to alert city and county officials to neglected facilities, including the Lakeshore Road fire station, also used as a voting precinct. He and fellow neighbors likewise pushed for long-delayed work on Elton Road, a corridor many South Jackson residents use to reach Interstate 55 virtually every day during rush hour.

It was for this kind of neighborhood work that JAN later recognized Sulton with a Neighborhood Champion Award. He said he did not know about the award until it was placed in his hands, so it was quite a pleasant surprise. He wasn’t trying to win an award. People simply asked for his help and he rose to the occasion. Sulton sets an example we can all learn from. He sees JAN as yet another place he can put his talents to good use, keeping the books honest, the good things happening and the focus where residents actually live.

That’s what Stewardship looks like. Welcome and congratulations, Robert. 

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