Inspiring Conversations with Jessilyn Edwards of JDE Management LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessilyn Edwards.

Hi Jessilyn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
How I Got Here — and What I’m Building Now
My path into this wasn’t some grand plan. It was built through experience and a season of my life when everything I thought was solid and secure but it wasn’t.
I was working for Humana as a career field sales agent, helping seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities figure out Medicare and insurance. My husband worked there too, in telesales. On paper, we were doing fine. Good jobs, benefits, a clear path forward. We felt stable.
Then I had my daughter. I went on maternity leave, came back, to find out that I was laid off. Big restructuring. Just like that.
I remember sitting at home with my two-month-old, thinking, okay, so this is how fast “job security” disappears. I was a top performing sales agent and the one time I didn’t meet my sales goal over the course of six years didn’t matter.My husband still had his job, but the fear was instant. If it happened to me, what if he was next?
I’ve dealt with anxiety for years, and that period made it worse. I ended up enrolling in the Vocational Rehabilitation program through the Texas Workforce Commission. I thought it was income-based at first, so I was hopeful we would qualify, but it’s actually disability-based. Anxiety and mental health challenges count as legitimate barriers to employment. I went through the program and chose the self employment track. I am actually still in the program. It has been such an amazing resource that isn’t really talked about or well known. The Vocational Rehabilitation program helped set the stage for me to qualify for over twenty thousand dollars in grant funding for equipment, marketing, and other business expenses. It was a long road but worth it to get to that point , but it was well worth it. I told myself I was never going to put my family in a position where someone else had total control over whether we could pay our bills.
Then things got harder.
My husband is a service-disabled veteran, and he started going through a serious mental health crisis. At the same time, the military was in what they call a “brownout”—basically, mass administrative chaos. His paperwork got lost or mishandled, and he ended up being discharged due to an administrative error. Almost overnight, our military insurance was gone. We started getting medical bills in the $30,000 to $40,000 range while we waited—months—for corrections that never fully came.
That broke something open for me. But it lit a fire inside me. I stopped believing that doing everything “right” would protect us. That these that we were traditionally taught to buy into can fail. Jobs disappear. Paperwork gets lost. You can’t control any of that—but you can build something that doesn’t collapse the second life gets messy.
At that point, I was slowly starting to get contracts in property preservation and property operations—maintaining vacant homes, managing compliance, keeping properties from falling apart. I’d walk through these houses knowing people were recently just living there. It didn’t make sense and I felt guilty because that could have been us. I initially thought Property Preservation was maintaining communities so they don’t deteriorate any further, and essentially we were doing that, but we were also helping the banks evict individuals as well. Some of them due to death, job loss, or life’s unfortunate circumstances. After witnessing this gap in housing first hand I wanted to be a solution to the problem.
I built and am currently building two businesses that work together: JDE Management LLC, which protects and maintains housing assets for asset management companies, and JDE Housing Solutions, which keeps people housed. One side protects the structure. The other side protects the people living in it. Our First Bloom House opens February 15th.

What JDE Housing Solutions Actually Does
We operate structured shared housing for independent adults who face barriers in the traditional rental market but don’t need licensed care or supervision. We serve veterans with VA benefits, adults receiving SSI or SSDI, returning citizens with stable income, and working adults—people who are fully capable of managing their own daily lives but need housing that’s affordable, stable, and built with dignity.
This isn’t a group home. It’s not a care facility. It’s not charity. It’s housing—plain and simple.
We work with adults who are ambulatory, cognitively aware, and capable of independent living. They don’t need someone managing their medications or helping them bathe. They need a stable place to live while they rebuild, transition, or simply exist without the constant stress of housing insecurity.
We don’t use rigid one-size-fits-all requirements—we assess each person individually because we know that people in this demographic often have non-traditional backgrounds. A credit score doesn’t tell the whole story. Neither does a background check. What matters is whether someone is ready and capable of living independently in a shared environment with clear expectations.

Why This Model Exists
Most people in the demographics we serve fall into a gap. They make too much for shelters or emergency housing but not enough for market-rate apartments. They might have a criminal record, poor credit, or a non-traditional income source that makes landlords nervous. They’re capable of independence, but the system treats them like they need either full supervision or nothing at all.
We created a third option.
Our residents have verified income—government benefits, employment, pensions, VA payments, or approved third-party payers. They’re not looking for someone to take care of them. They’re looking for housing that doesn’t treat them like a risk or a burden.
We provide that by being clear about what we are and what we’re not. We’re not a halfway house. We’re not a nursing home. We’re not running a program. We’re operating professional shared housing with expectations, boundaries, and respect on both sides.
And because I come from a background in benefits navigation and property operations, I understand both the people side and the systems side. I know how to work with case managers, discharge planners, and veterans service officers. I know how to maintain a property so it doesn’t fall apart.

The Brand: Bloom House Living
Our housing collection is called Bloom House Living, and every detail is intentional.
The name represents growth, dignity, and putting down roots. Just like a flower needs the right soil and conditions to thrive, people need stable housing to build from. It’s not about rescuing someone, it’s about creating an environment where someone can actually bloom.
Each bedroom in our homes is named after a native East Texas flowers for example, Bluebonnet, Sunflower, and other native flowers depending on the size of the home. We didn’t want residents opening the door to “Room 1” or “Bed 3.” We wanted them to have a sense of identity and belonging from day one. You’re not a number here. You’re not a case file. You live in the Sunflower Room because you’re a person with dignity who deserves that.
The shared dining and kitchen space is called The Harvest Table, because that’s where community actually happens—shared meals, conversations, connection. It represents abundance and coming together, not scarcity or survival mode. It’s a space that says, you belong here, and there’s enough.
Every part of the branding reinforces the same message: you are not your past, you’re not a charity case, you’re a person who deserves a home where you can grow.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges I faced was learning how to navigate entrepreneurship while actively living through life’s hardest seasons.

I was managing my own anxiety while also supporting my husband through significant mental health struggles. At the same time, I was building a business without fully understanding systems, scalability, or pacing. In the early stages, my business grew too fast, without the operational foundation to support it — and looking back, it could have easily failed. That period taught me how critical systems, boundaries, and intentional growth really are.

Motherhood added another layer. I was raising a toddler, welcoming a newborn, and homeschooling my stepdaughter, Alyvia. I wanted to be fully present as a mother while still honoring my desire to build something meaningful for myself. That constant internal tension of choosing between being a present parent, a wife, and an ambitious entrepreneur was one of the hardest emotional hurdles I’ve ever faced.

Eventually, I had to accept that there is no perfect way to do it all. I transitioned Alyvia into a hybrid homeschool model to provide more structure, and I learned to release the guilt that came with realizing I didn’t have the bandwidth to do everything at once. Accepting that reality and redefining success as progress rather than perfection became a turning point for me.

After my second child was born, I scaled my business down to a single contract to survive that season. When that contract didn’t renew, it felt like being back at square one, but this time, I had clarity, control, and confidence. I knew my business wasn’t broken; it was paused.

I chose to focus fully on my pregnancy, my children, and my health, and my marriage while continuing to learn, research, and create in small ways. During that time, I developed a free Mom CEO journal to help women entrepreneurs navigate identity, guilt, and ambition through life’s noise.

When I returned to entrepreneurship, I did so with intention, and that season of rebuilding is what ultimately led to JDE Housing Solutions and Bloom House Living. The fear I once felt about instability didn’t disappear, but it transformed into purpose. I no longer build from panic. I build from alignment and purpose.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about JDE Management LLC?
ABOUT JDE HOUSING SOLUTIONS & BLOOM HOUSE LIVING

What We Do
JDE Housing Solutions provides dignified, affordable furnished housing for adults on fixed income in Tyler and East Texas. We specialize in low-barrier housing that welcomes populations often excluded from traditional rentals—veterans, returning citizens, seniors, and individuals rebuilding after life disruptions.
We operate structured, substance-free housing where residents live independently without required programming or supervision. Unlike shelters or halfway houses, we’re housing only—offering the stability of home with the support of community.
Our Pricing & What’s Included
Shared Rooms: Starting at $750/month
Private Rooms: Starting at $1,000/month
Limited rental subsidy funding available for qualifying residents.
Every Room Includes:
✓ All utilities (electric, water, gas, trash)
✓ Fully furnished (bed, dresser, linens provided)
✓ High-speed WiFi
✓ Flat-screen TV (in-room)
✓ Laundry supplies (detergent, dryer sheets)
✓ Household essentials (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies)
✓ Initial bus pass for first month (Tyler Transit)
✓ Optional digital pill dispenser (for medication management)
✓ Shared community meal plan (optional—residents can participate or sign waiver for independent meal prep)
No hidden fees. No surprise charges. Everything you need to live comfortably is included.

What Sets Us Apart
We remove barriers without removing standards. Most affordable housing requires perfect credit, clean background checks, or thousands in deposits. We verify income and readiness for independent living instead—recognizing that past mistakes shouldn’t permanently determine housing access.
We’re intentionally designed for peace, not just function. Each Bloom House room is themed with subtle nodes around native East Texas flowers like daisies, bluebonnets, lantana, and azaleas. Our shared kitchen is called the Harvest Table, and we’re building community gardens to encourage connection, routine, and pride in shared space. Every detail supports our philosophy: reduce stress, create room to breathe, and give people space to bloom at their own pace.
We connect residents to resources that create pathways forward. We help residents access programs like the Texas Vocational Rehabilitation Program (which supports employment and self-employment), Tyler Transit services, and other community resources. We believe people need more than just a roof—they need a starting point and knowledge of what’s available.

What Drives Us
I’ve seen how constant stress, financial instability, and uncertainty can turn people into versions of themselves they don’t recognize. When someone is always in survival mode, growth becomes impossible.
Bloom House Living exists to create the opposite: calm, peaceful, intentional environments where people can truly thrive—not just survive. Housing stability shouldn’t be reserved for people with perfect records. When people have a stable place to live, everything else becomes possible.
What We’re Most Proud Of
Our philosophy isn’t just talk—it’s built into the model. From our flower-themed rooms to our Harvest Table kitchens to our community gardens and optional shared meal plans, we’ve created spaces that feel like home, not institutions. We’re proving that affordable housing can be both dignified and financially sustainable.
We serve people others won’t—and we do it well. Veterans, returning citizens, seniors on fixed income—these aren’t “risky” populations. They’re reliable residents when given the opportunity and respect they deserve.
We’re a business with a mission. This model works financially because it’s needed, structured, and community-focused. We’re showing that serving overlooked populations isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s smart business.
What You Should Know
JDE Housing Solutions operates multiple properties across Tyler with plans to expand throughout East Texas. We work closely with case managers, healthcare professionals, VA representatives, and social service agencies who trust us with their clients.

My background is in healthcare benefits—I spent years as “the Medicare lady” or “the Humana girl”—where I repeatedly saw housing and food insecurity as the missing piece to stability. I launched JDE Housing Solutions to fill that gap, and I went through the Texas Vocational Rehabilitation Program myself, so I understand these systems from the inside.

My goal is simple: be the steady place where people feel supported, respected, and empowered to take their next step forward. No matter how low or far someone feels they’ve fallen, there are resources available if you know where to look. We want to be that starting point.
Bloom House Living isn’t just about housing—it’s about creating environments where people can reset, reconnect, and become who they’re meant to be.

Pricing:

• starting $750 shared room
• $Private room starting 1100

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jdehousingsolutions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdehousingsolutions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdehousingsolutions/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessilynedwards/