CEDAC Congratulates Supportive Housing Awardees in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is investing in supportive housing that combines affordable homes with services to enable residents to lead stable, independent lives.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration recently announced more than $44 million in funding to support housing for veterans, seniors, and families throughout the state, led by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the Executive Office of Veterans Services. Secretary Juana Matias and Secretary Eric Goralnick announced the awards to developments that provide stable homes with the supportive services many residents need to thrive.

CEDAC is proud to have supported a number of the awarded developments with predevelopment and acquisition financing, including:

Stone House at Westminster Terrace (Boston)

Sponsor: Planning Office for Urban Affairs

Stone House at Westminster Terrace will create six homes to provide emergency shelter and transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence and their families in Roxbury. Developed in partnership with Roxbury Stone House, the project will provide residents with case management and supportive services in a setting designed to promote safety, stability, and long-term housing success.

Visions of Victory (Boston)

Sponsor: Victory Programs

Visions of Victory will transform the former Envision Hotel in Jamaica Plain into 41 homes as permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals. The redevelopment will include enhanced SRO-style units with kitchenettes, shared community spaces, and on-site supportive services designed to help residents maintain long-term housing stability.

Capernaum Place (Lawrence)

Sponsor: Lazarus House

Capernaum Place will preserve and renovate an existing supportive housing property serving families in Lawrence while adding five new homes. The redevelopment will modernize the building, address significant capital needs, and expand the project’s permanent supportive housing model for families experiencing homelessness and housing instability.

Broadway Supportive Housing 2 (Lowell)

Sponsor: Common Ground Development Corporation

Broadway Supportive Housing 2 will create 37 enhanced SRO apartments for chronically homeless individuals in Lowell. Located adjacent to Broadway Supportive Housing Phase 1, the project will include resident service space and supportive housing designed to help residents access stability and long-term support.

Plymouth HRC and Supportive Housing (Plymouth)

Sponsor: Father Bill’s & MainSpring

Father Bill’s & MainSpring is developing a new Housing Resource Center in Plymouth that will combine emergency shelter, wraparound supportive services, and 24 homes for permanent supportive housing on one campus. The project builds on the organization’s proven Housing Resource Center model, which integrates shelter, housing, and services to better support individuals experiencing homelessness.

Oriol Drive Supportive Housing (Worcester)

Sponsor: Worcester Community Housing Resources

Oriol Drive Supportive Housing will convert an existing hotel in Worcester into 90 apartments for permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless households. The development will provide residents with on-site supportive services through Eliot Community Services and follows a Housing First approach focused on long-term housing stability and recovery.

Together, these developments reflect a shared commitment to expanding housing access and creating opportunities for people and families throughout Massachusetts.

Congratulations to all of the awardees and partners involved in bringing these developments forward.

Read the full Healey-Driscoll Administration announcement:

EOHLC Supportive Housing Awards Announcement

What Fair Housing Month Looks Like on the Ground

April marks Fair Housing Month, a time to consider how access to housing is shaped—not just by policy, but by the systems and investments that exist in our communities.

A recent Berkshire Eagle article offers a clear example of what that looks like in practice. The story follows residents in Berkshire County who have moved from prolonged housing instability into permanent supportive housing—an approach that combines affordable housing with on-site or connected services.

Supportive housing is more than a roof overhead. It creates the conditions for stability in other areas of life, from maintaining employment to navigating health needs or reconnecting with family. The model is designed to recognize that housing and supportive services are most effective when they work together.

CEDAC Executive Director Ethan Handelman spoke to the importance of this approach in the article, pointing to permanent supportive housing as a central strategy in addressing homelessness and meeting ongoing need across Massachusetts.

What stands out in these examples is not only the immediate impact, but the long-term outcomes. Residents are able to remain housed, build stability over time, and participate more fully in their communities—outcomes that are difficult to achieve without a consistent place to live.

At the same time, the story reflects a broader challenge. Many of the recent gains in supportive housing have been made possible through time-limited funding sources, even as demand continues to grow. Ensuring that this progress continues will require ongoing commitment from public investment and local implementation.

Fair Housing Month provides a moment to reflect on what it takes to make stable housing accessible in a lasting way. In Berkshire County and across the state, permanent supportive housing offers one example of how that work can move forward.

Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle:

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/permanent-supportive-housing-changes-lives/article_d0034df0-4c7e-45a1-b840-c888e06d9909.html

Women’s History Month: Celebrating the Women Behind the Work

At CEDAC and the Children’s Investment Fund, women play a central role in the work of strengthening communities across Massachusetts.

This past Women’s History Month, we celebrated the women whose leadership, expertise, and day-to-day contributions help advance our mission — from expanding access to affordable housing to improving childcare and early education spaces for families.

In each of our teams, women are shaping projects, guiding investments, and ensuring that resources reach the communities that need them most. Some of this work is visible at ground-breakings and ribbon-cuttings. Other parts happen behind the scenes. The combined result is in the homes created, the learning environments improved, and the opportunities created for residents and families.

For many on our team, the work is deeply personal. As one staff member shared, “seeing housing and childcare that we funded fully built and serving the community” is a powerful reminder of why this work matters.

Others are motivated by the opportunity to support mission-driven work and the people behind it — helping create environments that are both impactful and sustainable.

Women’s History Month is also a time to reflect on the progress that has made this work possible. The women who came before us — leaders, advocates, and changemakers — helped open doors in fields like housing, finance, and community development, creating pathways for future generations to lead and innovate.

As we celebrate this month, we’re also proud to highlight members of our team through a series of staff spotlights, sharing their experiences, perspectives, and the motivations that drive their work.

Explore our Women’s History Month spotlights:

Their stories are a reminder that strong communities are built not only through investment, but through the people who make that work possible every day.

Expanding What’s Possible: New Affordable Housing Investments in Massachusetts

Affordable housing projects are moving forward in communities throughout Massachusetts — not at ribbon cuttings or groundbreakings, but much earlier, when ideas are still taking shape and critical decisions determine what’s possible.

CEDAC recently approved more than $7 million in early-stage financing to support 16 affordable housing developments. These investments mark an important step in the life of a project — when a site is secured, plans begin to take form, and a path toward construction starts to come into focus.

At this stage, progress looks like decisions: selecting a site, advancing architectural designs, navigating local approvals, and assembling the financing needed to move forward. It’s the phase where projects shift from possibility to something much more concrete.

The developments supported through these commitments reflect a wide range of needs in communities throughout Massachusetts. In Lynn, new transit-oriented housing will bring residents closer to jobs and transportation. In Gardner, supportive housing will expand options for veterans. And in Erving, a new development will introduce the town’s first affordable housing units counted toward the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory — a meaningful milestone for the community.

Other projects will redevelop long-vacant properties, preserve historic buildings, and create new housing in areas where options are limited. Together, they represent the early steps behind housing that will serve residents for years to come.

CEDAC’s role is to help make those steps possible. By providing financing at a critical moment in development, CEDAC helps projects gain traction and move closer to becoming the homes communities need.

Read the full press release here.

The Work That Happens Early: Reflections from CEDAC’s FY25 Annual Report

Over the past year, CEDAC and the Children’s Investment Fund partnered with nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts during the earliest stages of development, when projects are still ideas on paper and critical decisions shape what becomes possible.

This is where much of CEDAC’s work takes place: before groundbreakings, before ribbon cuttings, and often before public attention. CEDAC’s FY25 Annual Report reflects a year spent working alongside nonprofit partners to help projects move from initial concepts toward readiness.

Much of this work is not always visible. It takes shape through feasibility analysis, design decisions, and coordination among partners. Work that helps determine whether a project can move forward and how it can best serve its community.

In FY25, CEDAC and the Children’s Investment Fund provided early-stage financing and technical assistance to support affordable housing, early education, and community-based services. This support helped nonprofit organizations assess feasibility, strengthen project plans, and prepare for later phases of development.

The stories throughout this year’s Annual Report reflect collaboration at every level.

Nonprofit organizations bring local knowledge and long-standing relationships. Public agencies and funders contribute resources and oversight. CEDAC’s role is to help align these efforts—supporting coordination, providing early capital, and helping projects advance without rushing critical decisions.

This approach reflects an understanding that housing and community development are complex processes that benefit from patience, clarity, and shared responsibility.

The FY25 Annual Report brings together examples of projects across Massachusetts that are at different points along the development process. Some are still in planning. Others are moving closer to completion. Together, they offer a snapshot of how early-stage financing and technical support contribute to project readiness and long-term use.

As CEDAC continues this work in 2026, these early efforts remain central to strengthening housing and community development outcomes across the Commonwealth.

Read the FY25 Annual Report

CEDAC-Supported Developments Receive State Affordable Housing Awards

CEDAC is pleased to congratulate six developments that have received funding through the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ latest Affordable Housing Development awards.

As announced by the Healey-Driscoll Administration, more than $140 million has been committed statewide to support the creation of over 1,300 new homes across Massachusetts. These highly competitive awards represent a significant milestone in the development process, advancing projects from years of planning into construction and long-term community impact.

Among the awarded projects are six developments that previously received early-stage financing from CEDAC – helping position them for success in this funding round.

The CEDAC-supported awardees include:

Turtle Woods (Beverly), Harborlight Community Partners
Parcel P-12C (Boston), Asian Community Development Corporation
112 Queensberry Street (Boston), Fenway Forward
176 Main Street (Greenfield), Rural Development, Inc.
Olde Station Square I & II (Lawrence), Greater Lawrence Community Action Council
Linden Street Apartments (Pittsfield), Hearthway, Inc.

From senior housing preservation in Beverly to family housing in Boston to green affordable housing in Pittsfield and adaptive reuse in Greenfield and Lawrence, these developments reflect the breadth of communities and housing needs across the Commonwealth. When completed, they will provide stable, affordable homes for seniors, families, and individuals – strengthening neighborhoods and expanding access to opportunity.

Through predevelopment and acquisition financing, CEDAC partners with nonprofit and mission-driven developers to advance complex affordable housing projects at critical early stages. Early investment supports site control, design, financial structuring, and readiness – ensuring developments are well-positioned to compete for public resources.

State housing awards represent a major milestone in the life of an affordable housing development. Behind each award is years of coordination, community engagement, and financial preparation. CEDAC is proud to support this foundational work, strengthening the pipeline of projects that ultimately deliver affordable homes across the Commonwealth.

We congratulate the sponsors and partners leading this work and look forward to seeing these developments move into construction and long-term service to residents in Beverly, Boston, Greenfield, Lawrence, and Pittsfield.

CEDAC Executive Director Message

I am pleased and grateful to be back in Massachusetts working to preserve and create affordable housing. The Commonwealth is committed to solving the many challenges to making housing affordable, available, and accessible. The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) plays an essential role in carrying out that commitment.

The Commonwealth has already enacted the Affordable Homes Act and the MBTA Communities Act. The $5 billion commitment to affordable housing is historic. Fulfilling its promise requires concerted efforts by public, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations all working toward shared goals. I know that working together Massachusetts can turn the vision into reality.

CEDAC has a long history of supporting community-based affordable housing and child care development, primarily by nonprofit community development corporations. These are the organizations rooted in communities and focused on creating opportunities for people who have been too often excluded. Since our creation in 1978, CEDAC has been an innovator in preserving existing affordable housing and in nurturing the capacity of emerging developers to create new housing and improved child care facilities. These capabilities in predevelopment lending and technical assistance are an essential part of what Massachusetts needs at this moment.

The team of mission-committed professionals at CEDAC understand affordable housing in Massachusetts and care deeply about its success. They are part of the reason I chose to return here, and I have been learning with them and from them since I joined the team in June. I aim to bring my ideas and experience to support them in pursuit of our affordable housing and community development mission. The board members who guide CEDAC and our affiliate the Children’s Investment Fund are an invaluable source of wisdom and direction in all our work.

When I left Massachusetts in 2011 to work on affordable housing policy in Washington, DC, the HUD Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Boston was $1,349. Today it is $2,837. Now more than ever, we need good choices and creative thinking in housing policy. For any family, an affordable home creates safety and stability; its absence limits opportunity and consumes prosperity.

The Commonwealth faces well-understood housing challenges. It also faces massive uncertainty about what the federal government will do, for good or ill, in coming months. CEDAC will be here to help navigate those challenges. We will help community-based developers find the resources they need and put together developments that can succeed. We will identify targeted solutions to preserve older affordable housing properties that have been too long neglected. We will find ways to deploy capital for energy efficient, climate-resilient housing. We will reinvigorate the Home Modification Loan Program to better meet the need for accessibility. We will work closely with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to help deploy public capital into supportive housing and improve accessibility in rental homes. And we will need to work together to adjust to whatever comes our way from Washington.

In 2021, President Biden appointed me to lead HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Policy. It was an honor to lead the HUD effort that by the end of 2024 awarded all the $1 billion allocated to HUD under the Inflation Reduction Act to make properties safer, more energy efficient, and healthier for residents to live in. That honor was tempered by the disappointment that the massive housing investments of the Build Back Better proposal were not enacted. But as a dedicated houser, I know never to give up. So now, I feel even more honored to be leading CEDAC, especially at a time when Massachusetts is so committed to affordable housing. I am glad to once again call Massachusetts my home. Let’s all work together to make good homes available to everyone.

Ethan Handelman

Expanding Access to Child Care Through Affordable Housing Development

Many parts of Massachusetts are an “access desert” when it comes to licensed child care, according to the Department of Early Education and Care. That access desert affects 70% of infants and 43% of toddlers in the Commonwealth. Affording child care is also a challenge—more than 30,000 children are currently on the waitlist for child care financial assistance. Massachusetts needs more and better child care services, and physical infrastructure is a part of the solution.

However, child care programs looking to expand often struggle to find high-quality facilities in communities they serve. They can also struggle to finance the creation or improvement of facilities. As a result, many programs operate out of aging, suboptimal spaces not designed for children.

Children’s Investment Fund (CIF) and CEDAC are working to change that. CIF focuses on financing development of high-quality child care environments and its partnership with CEDAC has led to several projects that co-locate affordable housing with child care facilities, formally called early care and education (ECE). This model is gaining traction at the state level. In March 2025, Governor Healey’s Inter Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force released a report that included two related recommendations for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to encourage co-location.

This summer, CIF and CEDAC utilized their networks to survey affordable housing developers on this topic. They also hosted a focus group with developers in September to solicit feedback on the opportunity for new child care spaces to be developed alongside affordable housing.

Preliminary Results
The affordable housing developers who provided feedback generally support co-location of housing and ECE. Eight developers are already doing this work or have created such sites in the past, but most of them are concentrated in the Boston metro area.

The following opportunities were articulated by affordable housing developers:
– ECE is a community benefit to tenants and neighborhood residents. It provides a much-needed service.
– ECE is a good option for filling commercial space in buildings. Several developers noted recent volatility in retail and other businesses that typically fill commercial spaces. ECE has the potential to be a stable tenant.

Potential challenges include:
– The need for capital resources to support the build-out of an ECE space, which is something neither ECE operators nor affordable housing developers typically have access to.
– The challenge of identifying the right child care operator as a partner, and one that can commit to a long-term lease. Developing new affordable housing typically requires a long-term commitment from commercial tenants.
– The need for predevelopment and planning support for both affordable housing developers and ECE providers for this type of collaboration.
– Site considerations for a child care site, which include adequate outdoor play space and traffic circulation for pick up/drop off.

Almost all the responding developers expressed interest in learning more. CIF and CEDAC are part of a working group under the Inter Agency Task Force initiative. Other areas of further exploration include gathering data on current ECE programs in public housing, identifying potential policy changes that could incentivize more co-location projects, and hosting a webinar for developers to share more information about successful projects.

As Massachusetts invests in creating new affordable homes, developers and child care providers should ensure that ECE facilities are part of these projects. There is much still to learn and real potential to help families across the Commonwealth.

CEDAC Early-Stage Funding in Q1 of FY2026 Will Help Create or Preserve Affordable Housing in Communities Across the Commonwealth

Today, CEDAC announced its early-stage project financing commitments during the first quarter of FY2026 will help to create or preserve affordable housing in communities across the Commonwealth. These projects will address a range of affordable housing needs including permanent supportive housing and new affordable housing production.

The total commitment of $4,103,910 in predevelopment financing to nine (9) projects will promote affordable housing development by community development corporations and other non-profit entities in communities throughout Massachusetts, including in Boston, Dorchester, Somerville, Plymouth, Lynn, Arlington, Rowley, Greenfield and Topsfield.

“Our commitment to these incredible projects bolster the state’s mission to provide affordable housing for individuals and families across Massachusetts,” said CEDAC’s Executive Director, Ethan Handelman. “We are excited to continue providing financing and technical assistance work with our non-profit community partners as these projects progress to the next stage.”

Learn more about the projects here.

CEDAC-Supported Affordable Housing Projects Selected in Winter Round Financing Leveraged over $9 Million in Predevelopment Funds

Today, CEDAC announced that it has provided financing to nine of 21 affordable housing projects that received funding awards in the most recent competitive round of affordable housing led by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC). CEDAC has committed a total of $9,587,000 in early-stage financing to these projects, which will create 429 new affordable rental apartments. Additionally, 128 of these apartments will be designated for extremely low-income individuals or households often transitioning from homelessness.

“The projects announced in EOHLC’s new round of funding show the kind of housing we wish to support with our non-profit partners across the Commonwealth,” said CEDAC Executive Director, Ethan Handelman. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Healey Administration in fulfilling their mission to create more affordable housing in Massachusetts.”

Details on the projects CEDAC financed can be found here.