Author: Dilia Ramirez

More charity despite smaller pot: Boston Foundation to increase funding for certain grants

More charity despite smaller pot
Boston Foundation to increase funding for certain grants

By Sean Sposito, Globe Correspondent | June 27, 2009

The state’s largest community foundation plans to distribute more grant money during the next fiscal year, even though its assets are down more than 19 percent because of the slumping economy.

The Boston Foundation said it will disburse $17.2 million in discretionary grants for the 2010 fiscal year, compared with $16.9 million it spent on such grants in the fiscal year ending Tuesday.

Paul Grogan, the foundation’s chief executive, said the decision to increase grant funding was made by board members at their last two meetings.

“The board is maintaining its presence in the community,’’ Grogan said, adding that 6 percent of the foundation’s total assets will be committed to charity during the coming year. “It really wasn’t a big debate. The board has tremendous confidence in this institution that it is going to recover financially, eventually.’’

Discretionary grants – meaning the money is not earmarked for specific charities by donors – account for about a third of the foundation’s total giving. In fiscal 2009, the organization gave out $79 million overall.

Grants for the next year include $75,000 to the Children’s Investment Fund, which provides access to early-childhood care, and $150,000 to Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts Inc., which supports a Boston initiative to promote school readiness.

Like other charitable organizations, the Boston Foundation has seen its assets shrink during the economic recession. At the end of the 2008 fiscal year, it had about $964 million, compared with about $763 million now.

Also, giving to the foundation is down, according to spokesman David Trueblood. During this fiscal year, money from philanthropists who want to fund particular charities decreased. Overall donations fell from $102 million in fiscal 2008 to $75 million this year, about a 25 percent drop.

The foundation has trimmed costs because of the economy, including laying off three of its 59 employees in February and leaving an open position unfilled.

In a survey earlier this year by the Foundation Center, a New York-based research group, 47 percent of 1,225 US grant-making foundations questioned said they reduced their giving in 2008, and about two-thirds said they would distribute less money this year. The center predicted that giving this year will decrease by “the high single digits to low double digits.’’

Miki Akimoto, acting president of Associated Grant Makers, an association for funders, said most Massachusetts foundations have less than $100 million in assets, making it less likely that they will be able increase grant giving during the recession.

“From an overall numbers perspective, it is rare that any foundation is increasing payout,’’ Akimoto.

SourceBoston Globe

Somerville leads the way with new green affordable housing at St. Polycarp

Somerville leads the way with new green affordable housing at St. Polycarp

A green roof, triple-paned windows that block out highway noise and the creative revitalization of an underused lot made Somerville’s newest affordable housing project a poster child for the state.
State and federal officials congratulated Somerville for its commitment to affordable housing at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Saint Polycarp Village apartments on Monday June 8, 2009.
Standing next to Mystic Avenue and speaking over the traffic noise of I-93, Congressman Mike Capuano congratulated Mayor Joe Curtatone and the Somerville Community Corporation for a project well done.
“This project is the best representation I can remember of bringing a community back together, building it as a place for people to live and to raise their families in, and to make life better for them,” said Capuano as he recalled how I-93 divided the neighborhood and took out 600 homes in the city. “This particular project, to me, represents the healing of one of the many wounds that society put on its own sisters and brothers years ago. This is a wonderful project.”
He also recalled his days on the Somerville Community Corporation board and expressed admiration for those who work tirelessly for housing projects. “The point is that this organization attracts and retains people who are committed to this city and to this world.”
With this project offering 24 new affordable housing units, the site of the former Saint Polycarp parish in Somerville is moving one step closer to being transformed into mixed-use village. All of the units are affordable to families earning less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income, including four units reserved for clients of the Department of Mental Health and two units reserved for formerly homeless individuals. There is 6,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and two of the three units available have already been leased out.
Recalling the recent opening of Somerville’s new VNA apartments and the renovated Capen Court, state Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks also added her voice in praise of a city that’s doing what few others are achieving in tough times.
“Not many communities embrace affordable housing the way you do and it is so critically important now,” Brooks said to the mayor at the ribbon cutting. “A lot of units are off the market because of foreclosure, people are losing their homes, they desperately need affordable rentals and you are encouraging that to happen and you are doing it in the context of a community perspective. So you are really building a lot of stability in this community that I hope serves you well in years to come.”
This smart-growth redevelopment project has revitalized a neglected and underutilized parcel of land at the corner of Temple Street and Mystic Avenue, converting it into a vibrant community that includes new housing, commercial space, a church, a transitional home for single mothers and their children, a GED program and open space.
“We’re excited to be moving forward on the creation of Saint Polycarp Village apartments,” said Danny LeBlanc, CEO of the Somerville Community Corporation that developed it. “Especially during these hard economic times, we’re pleased to be able to see this project through to completion and to be providing some critically needed affordable rental housing.”
The building features solar panels for common area electric loads, solar thermal panels for hot water, and the city’s first affordable green roof that was built by Apex Green Roofs and a group of students from an engineering class at the Prospect Hill Academy.
Iric Rex of Mostue and Associates that helped design the project said that it was rewarding to work on a project that had so many community partners and sustainable design features. “The result is a very responsible building, improving the site and the neighborhood, while integrating a combination of cutting-edge energy-efficiency features,” he said. “The tenants and local community alike will benefit from the new urban green spaces created around the building, and the healthy, beautiful interior environment.”
“It has been a pleasure to work on an affordable housing project that encompasses so many new green technologies. We have been very fortunate to build in a community like Somerville that is forward-thinking and ambitious with its projects,” added John Curtis, president of Curtis Construction Company that built the project.
Mayor Curtatone said this is a perfect example of what Somerville can do with good partnership and that this is the first of many good projects underway.
“It takes a village to build a village,” added LeBlanc.
Saint Polycarp Village Apartments received investor financing through the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits during a time when very few deals of this type were being financed. Additional funding came from the State of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Mass Housing, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), Mass Development, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, First Sterling, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, LISC, the Home Depot Foundation, Enterprise Foundation, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the City of Somerville.
“This is one development that gives us great hope regarding affordable housing,” said Roger Herzog from CEDAC.
Saint Polycarp Village apartments is the first of at least two phases of new construction on the site. Plans for a second phase of new construction include 29 affordable rental units centered around a green space and adjacent to a playground. This is currently in the funding phase and is expected to be complete by 2011.
Information from a press release was used in this report.
________________________________________
Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
________________________________________
Stable URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x986603021/Somerville-leads-the-way-with-new-green-affordable-housing-at-St-Polycarp

URL to Photo Album (26 pictures): http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x986603021/Somerville-leads-the-way-with-new-green-affordable-housing-at-St-Polycarp?view=pop&photo=0

URL to Tina Brooks on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlPkMR2k7nc

URL to building tour on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2emzJVCZ4K0

SourceWicked Local Somerville

LePage’s redevelopment to continue with 34 new units

LePage’s redevelopment to continue with 34 new units
Fri Apr 17, 2009, 12:01 PM EDT
Gloucester – The Caleb Foundation announced earlier this week it has received funding for the construction of 34 units of affordable housing in Gloucester.
The construction of the units, on the site of an abandoned warehouse, will complete the redevelopment of the former LePage Glue Factory into the Pond View Community.
The Caleb Foundation had previously purchased a vacant warehouse for $1.1 million, have now received funding for the construction and currently in the permitting process.
The Caleb Foundation has recently secured funding for the construction of this new property through the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, state Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME funds and Affordable Housing Trust funds.
The foundation purchased the property in a workout between two state lenders: Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) and Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), with acquisition funding provided by CEDAC.
This facility will have pond and river views, green space and public transportation on-site, according to a prepared release from the Caleb Foundation. The units will be close to downtown, public beaches, parks and recreation areas, retail and entertainment venues. It is also close to the highway and a mile from the commuter train into Boston. All of the units will be affordable to families making 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income.
Under The Caleb Foundation’s plan, the existing vacant building will be demolished and replaced with a brand new apartment building. The units will be constructed in the footprint of the old, unused warehouse. The new building will be five stories tall with parking on the first level and four levels or apartments.
Like the foundation’s other sites, this housing will have a Resident Service Program on site, and residents will have access to community services through their Resident Service coordinator.
The redevelopment of this historic factory into a vibrant, affordable community has long been vision of Cape Ann Housing Opportunity and other groups in the Gloucester community.
The Caleb Foundation is a 15-year-old nonprofit affordable housing development organization that has been involved in the development, management and resident services in 22 communities across New England.
This information was provided by The Caleb Foundation.

Link to article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/manchester/news/business/x50620390/LePage-s-redevelopment-to-continue-with-34-new-units

SourceWicked Local, Manchester

Pond View gets $3.2M for bailout

Pond View gets $3.2M for bailout

By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer

April 15, 2009 05:55 am

—
The final, unfinished piece of the struggling Pond View Village housing complex in West Gloucester is being resuscitated with the help of more than $3.2 million in state and federal assistance.
Hailed as a model of community redevelopment, smart growth and mixed-income housing before the national real estate market cratered, Pond View Village was left partially occupied and only two-thirds built when its developer, Cape Ann Housing Opportunity, went bankrupt last year.
Foreclosed upon by the statewide consortium of large banks that had lent money to CAHO, Pond View Village was bought in January by the Caleb Foundation, a Swampscott nonprofit that manages and preserves low-income multi-family housing throughout New England.
The Caleb Foundation, which shares much of CAHO’s vision for the former LePage Glue property, was one of 39 organizations in Massachusetts to secure Affordable Rental Housing Awards from the state this month.
The aid package — a combination of state and federal low-interest state loans and tax credits totalling $3.27 million — will give Caleb the funding to move forward with plans to build 34 new rental units on the property, meeting federal affordability standards, Debbie Nutter, executive director for the Caleb Foundation said yesterday.
“This means that hopefully the third phase will be finished,” Nutter said. “I believe it will continue to serve the low-income and moderate-income folks in Gloucester with rental housing. There is a market and a need for them.”
To complete Pond View Village, Caleb will raze the vacant old warehouse building on the site and erect, in its footprint, a new five-story apartment building.
Caleb will complete the local permitting it needs to resume work, Nutter said, and hopes to begin construction late in the fall or early winter of this year.
Before it stepped in with a new package of loans and tax breaks, the state was already financially committed to Pond View Village, having already loaned $5.1 million to the project.
The city has also given the project more than $500,000.
The new assistance, which employs existing housing programs as part of Gov. Deval Patrick’s Massachusetts Recovery Program, includes federal funds but no money from the national stimulus package now filtering out to states and local communities.
Overall, the latest round of affordable rental awards announced by the Patrick administration targets projects in 25 communities with a total of $108 million. In a normal, non-recession year, the state will usually only announce funding for around a dozen rental projects, Phil Hailer, a spokesman for the state Department of Housing and Community Development said yesterday.
The awards to Pond View Village are comprised of $1,315,000 in low-interest loans pulled from the federal HOME Program and state Affordable Housing Trust, Hailer said, combined with a $1,350,000 state tax credit and $612,000 federal tax credit.
Like most projects that receive tax credits, Caleb is planning to sell those tax credits to investors to provide the capital to begin construction.
The total cost of finishing Phase 3 of Pond View Village is estimated by Caleb at $6.7 million.
With the loftiest of intentions, Cape Ann Housing Opportunity built 84 units of mixed-income housing — 43 rental and 41 condominiums — on the site of the vacant former glue factory before becoming insolvent.
A lawsuit brought by the owners of the neighboring Heights of Cape Ann for obstructing views with the unbuilt apartment high-rise delayed construction and pushed the project into the worst throes of the recession.
When it was clear last summer that CAHO would default on its loans for the property, its primary lender, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp., foreclosed on the complex.
Formed by a consortium of large banks as a lender for affordable housing and community development projects, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. which lost more than $10 million from all of its loans to CAHO, now manages the existing units at Pond View.
Like much of the country, the condominium market on Cape Ann has also suffered in the recession.
Of 41 condominiums in the complex, only 19 have sold, with one more under agreement to be sold, Sandra Blackman, an asset manager at the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp., said yesterday.
Blackman said the awards to Caleb would be good news for her organization if it meant the old glue factory building would be giving way to new construction.
“It is a blighted building and needs to come down,” Blackman said.
After the foreclosure, the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp., which had issued CAHO a $1.3 million mortgage on the Phase 3 portion of the property, sold it to the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. for $600,000.
CEDAC, a quasi-state agency that also held mortgage debt from CAHO, then sold the Phase 3 property to Caleb for $1.1 million.
The success of other CAHO creditors, such as contractors and subcontractors who worked on Pond View Village, in trying to get money back is unclear. CAHO’s case is now in the hands of a state-appointed trustee.
The state and federal aid for Pond View Village — touted as a shovel-ready job creator — differs from many other government recovery efforts in that it will add new housing to the depressed market instead of getting already existing units occupied.
Hailer said projects like Pond View Village would help the economy because it creates affordable rental units to the market instead of properties to own, which are now languishing.
“Historically, the state has high housing costs and this helps keep Massachusetts affordable,” Hailer said. “We are trying to attract jobs and development and if you don’t have affordable housing, you are going to have a tough time. There is great demand for rental housing.”

Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.

Permanent Link: http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_104225723.html?keyword=topstory

SourceGloucester Daily Times

Wisdom Way Solar Village: A new community of affordable, sustainable homes moves toward zero energy.

See linked PDF.

SourceHome Energy Magazine MAR/APR 2009 issue

State & Local Housing Preservation Leaders: Massachusetts

Grant
Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation ($1,000,000)
Program-Related Investment
Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation ($3,500,000)
Background
Overall, Massachusetts has a very strong housing market — its rental market is the fifth most expensive in the country with more than 48 percent of renters and 33 percent of homeowners paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing in 2005/2006. By 2019, approximately 41,000 units of subsidized rental housing throughout Massachusetts may lose their affordability restrictions as a result of prepayments, opt-outs, and, increasingly, the expiration of subsidized 40-year mortgages. Of the various housing subsidy types, properties with 40-year mortgages are particularly at risk, because there are no federal protections or incentives in place to facilitate the preservation of this portfolio or to protect tenants from increasing rents. The strain on assisted housing in Massachusetts is exacerbated by the loss, due to foreclosures, of unsubsidized two-to-four unit rental properties that traditionally have provided the bulk of low-cost housing in the state. Compounding this loss, the physical deterioration of the second oldest housing stock in the U.S. threatens the continuity of both assisted and unassisted affordable housing.
Project Description
The grant will enable Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) to provide staff support to implement an Interagency Working Group to coordinate the housing preservation activities of state, federal, and local agencies, to advocate for necessary state and federal policy changes, and to formulate a joint plan to stabilize properties in the assisted housing portfolio and establish priorities for allocating public resources. CEDAC will also create an early-warning system to support interagency decision-making and priority-setting by enhancing an existing preservation database. The system will monitor the assisted multifamily housing stock and identify properties at risk of opting out of subsidy contracts and properties with physical and financial problems such as high vacancies, poor physical condition, poor management, and troubled tenancies. The grant will also support an advisory committee comprising housing advocates, developers, and real estate professionals that will serve as a forum at which leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors could discuss issues, share information, and provide feedback and guidance to promote the preservation of affordable housing throughout Massachusetts.
The program-related investment will support the Massachusetts Preservation Loan Fund, which will provide patient predevelopment and acquisition financing for large-scale preservation projects such as portfolio acquisitions that have few other financing options. The Loan Fund will provide lines of credit to qualified buyers and unsecured loans for purchase money deposits and other upfront costs as buyers demonstrate progress. There will be no specific loan to value ratio requirements for predevelopment loans. To qualify for financing, borrowers will have to demonstrate a feasible plan to acquire the properties and preserve them as affordable for a minimum of 30 years. Properties from all parts of Massachusetts will be eligible for financing as long as the transaction is consistent with the preservation priorities as determined by the Interagency Working Group. Together, the predevelopment pool and acquisition financing will create a substantial amount of new resources for preservation. Other capital sources for the Loan Fund include local banks and lending institutions, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, the City of Boston, and CEDAC.
Contact
Press inquiries:
Phil Hailer
Communications Director
Department of Housing and Community Development
100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114
617-573-1104
philip.hailer@state.ma.us
Grant lead contact:
Bill Brauner
617-727-5944
bbrauner@cedac.org
PRI activities:
Karen Kelley
Director of Finance and Operations
Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC)
One Center Plaza, Suite 350, Boston, MA 02108
617-727-5944
kkelley@cedac.org
Joseph Flatley
Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC)
70 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110
617-850-1000

SourceMacArthur Foundation Press Release

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation does more than just sponsor shows on ‘BUR

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation does more than just sponsor shows on ‘BUR

By adamg – Thu, 02/26/2009 – 3:55pm.

The foundation today announced it’s committing $4.5 million to help preserve affordable housing in Massachusetts.

Part of the money will go to the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation to coordinate federal and state aid for affordable-housing projects, and part will go into the Masschusetts Preservation Loan Fund, which will loan out money to developers who agree to keep their rents down for at least 30 years. The foundation sees preservation of existing housing stock as critical, because it costs a lot less than building new units.

http://www.universalhub.com/node/23525

SourceBlog - UniversalHub.com

12 STATES AND CITIES TO PRESERVE 70,000 AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOMES WITH MACARTHUR SUPPORT

12 States & Cities to Preserve 70,000 Affordable Rental Homes with MacArthur Support

February 26, 2009

Affordable Housing, Press Releases

(Chicago, IL) — Seizing the opportunity to make needed long-term investments in the face of a weak economy, 12 states and cities are launching innovative projects to preserve more than 70,000 affordable rental homes.

The new projects will assist military families in Maryland, seniors in rural Iowa and Vermont, low-wage workers in Florida and Oregon, and people who have been homeless in Los Angeles. They will promote energy efficiency in Pennsylvania, save distressed buildings in Minnesota, improve management of rental housing in Washington State, and ensure that rental homes are available in gentrifying areas near public transit in Denver.

With the stock of affordable rental housing disappearing at an alarming rate, MacArthur’s $32.5 million investment – $9.5 million in grants and an additional $23 million in low-interest loans – will leverage more than $147 million in other funding. The news was welcomed today by federal, state, and local housing officials across the country.

“These grants have spurred state and local innovation and leadership in the preservation of affordable housing,” said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Shaun L. Donovan. “At each grantee site, a representative of HUD has participated in developing the strategies and aligning efforts. It is my goal to make HUD a strong partner at the state and local level. The MacArthur Foundation should be commended for supporting partnerships across the government, private and nonprofit sectors.”

State and local governments in 40 states competed for MacArthur’s support, indicating broad, national interest in preserving affordable rental housing. The Foundation’s funding for these 12 projects is a part of MacArthur’s Window of Opportunity initiative, a $150 million, ten-year effort to preserve affordable rental homes across the nation. By investing in public sector initiatives such as these, the Foundation hopes to help create a wave of policy reform in cities and states that will make it possible to preserve one million homes this decade.

“For many years, the goal of home ownership has been emphasized in the U.S. and as a country we lost sight of the value of rental housing in a balanced national housing policy,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “The end of the housing bubble and a wave of foreclosures have underscored the importance of affordable rental housing. We now have an opportunity to reset the policy agenda, restore rental housing to its proper place, and reshape the policy environment so that it both encourages rental housing preservation and makes it easier to do. State and local governments are at the forefront of this effort, showcasing innovation and trying fresh approaches.”

Almost all Americans are renters at some point in their lives. Today, about one in three households – home to more than 75 million people – rent their homes, a number that is rising because of the foreclosure crisis and overall weak market for home sales. Yet, the supply of affordable rental homes is shrinking. Over the last decade, more than one million affordable rental homes were lost due to demolition, conversion to condominiums, expiring government subsidies, and rapidly rising rents. An additional one million homes are expected to be lost in the decade ahead. For every affordable home built each year, two are lost. This means there are not enough affordable homes for millions of Americans all across the nation, not simply in urban areas.

Now, while housing prices decline, acquiring multi-family rental properties is becoming more affordable, enabling cities and states to use scarce dollars more efficiently and effectively. The average cost to preserve a home is half that of building a new one. Preserving affordable housing also provides a stimulus to local economies. For instance, each job supported or created through affordable housing development in Oregon generates another one and one half jobs, on average.

“We’re leveraging our mass transit expansion and ensuring that Denver residents of all income levels have access to affordable housing near these critical transportation corridors,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. “This creates important economic opportunities for our workforce and further strengthens the character and vitality of Denver’s neighborhoods.”

Examples of the 12 creative state and local projects include:

* Denver – The City and County will establish a new loan fund for transit-oriented development that preserves affordable rental housing near existing and planned regional public transit stations. This investment will also help residents access job centers throughout the region. The Denver metropolitan area is undergoing the largest expansion in the nation of its public transit system.
* Maryland – Military base closures and the related relocation of 40,000 households will increase pressure on rents in eight counties. The State will ensure that rental housing preservation is a key element of the region’s response to the base closures by identifying preservation opportunities and creating a compact among state and local housing leaders to align efforts.
* Oregon & Portland – The City and State are expanding the Oregon Housing Acquisition Fund, a revolving loan fund created to finance the purchase of at-risk properties until permanent financing is available. Over the next five years, federal subsidy contracts will expire on 80 percent of Oregon’s privately-owned rental housing. Nearly one-quarter of these homes are located in Portland, where more than 2,700 families are waiting for rental assistance.
* Pennsylvania – In the largest such effort in the nation, Pennsylvania will conduct comprehensive energy audits to determine the most appropriate and cost-effective improvements for increasing energy efficiency in rental homes. Results will help reduce anticipated 40 to 60 percent increases in utility expenses in affordable rental housing for some of Pennsylvania’s neediest families.
* Download a summary of all 12 projects »

The MacArthur Foundation has a long history of commitment to affordable housing. Last year, the Foundation announced a $68 million investment in foreclosure prevention and mitigation in Chicago. The Foundation also supports a $25 million research program on how housing matters to families and communities. More information is available at www.macfound.org/housing.

SourceMacArthur Foundation Press Release

GOVERNOR PATRICK ANNOUNCES STATE TO RECEIVE $4.5 MILLION FROM MACARTHUR FOUNDATION TO PRESERVE AFFOR

GOVERNOR PATRICK ANNOUNCES STATE TO RECEIVE $4.5 MILLION FROM MACARTHUR FOUNDATION TO PRESERVE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING
Investment expected to leverage $150 million to keep 9,000 homes affordable in Massachusetts
With the prospect of losing more affordable apartments to higher rents as a growing number of subsidized long-term mortgages expire, Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will award Massachusetts $4.5 million to preserve the long-term affordability of existing privately owned multi-family rental housing.
Massachusetts is facing a potential loss of subsidized rental housing that will affect nearly 41,000 families over the next 10 years. This award is expected to leverage more than $150 million — primarily in private investment — for a statewide loan fund to preserve affordable rental homes for an estimated 9,000 families, or more than 20 percent of the rental housing now at-risk of being lost. Massachusetts is the 5th most expensive rental housing market in the nation, an increasing problem that has only been exacerbated by the loss of unsubsidized rental housing due to foreclosures.
“In these challenging times, we must use every available resource to preserve affordable rental housing for hard-working residents throughout Massachusetts,” said Governor Patrick. “We are grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for helping us in our ongoing efforts to ensure long-term, stable housing opportunities for wage earners on all income levels.”
Specifically, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development will implement the state’s MacArthur Foundation award. A $1 million grant will go to the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) to support an interagency working group to coordinate local, state and federal housing preservation activities, and establish an early warning system to identify properties that are at risk of market rate conversion. The group will formulate a plan and establish priorities for allocating public resources to keep those developments affordable. CEDAC is a quasi-public community development finance institution created in 1978 to provide technical assistance, pre-development lending, and consulting services to non-profit organizations.
The MacArthur Foundation will also target $3.5 million in program related investments, or low-cost loans, to support a $150 million Masschusetts Preservation Loan Fund for predevelopment and acquisition financing for preservation projects. Financing is available to for-profit and non-profit developers who demonstrate a feasible plan to acquire the properties and preserve them as affordable for a minimum of 30 years.
“Massachusetts leads the nation in having the most units of affordable housing per capita, but these are at risk if we do not act now. The foundation’s recognition of Massachusetts’ leadership role is welcome,” said Congressman Barney Frank. “As Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, I am very pleased with the work Governor Patrick and his housing officials have accomplished so far, and I am confident they will continue to provide the resources to maintain this vitally important affordable housing.”
“For many years, the goal of home ownership in the U.S. has been emphasized and as a country we lost sight of the value of rental housing in a balanced national housing policy,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “We now have an opportunity to reset the policy agenda, restore rental housing to its proper place, and reshape the policy environment so that it both encourages rental housing preservation and makes it easier to do. State and local governments are at the forefront of this effort, showcasing innovation and trying fresh approaches.”
The MacArthur Foundation’s announcement today is part of a $32.5 million nationwide award to a total of 12 states and cities nationwide. In addition to Massachusetts, the states include Iowa, Florida, Washington, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Ohio, Minnesota, and Maryland, as well as the cities of Denver and Los Angeles.
CEDAC will partner with the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) to create the loan fund. MHIC is a private non-profit entity founded in 1990 by a consortium of banks and other corporate investors to fill a critical gap in meeting the credit needs of affordable housing developers and owners who are unable to get financing for certain projects from traditional lenders. Through its relationships with state and local funders, MHIC will provide up to $100 million of loan fund capital for acquisition loans of preservation transactions. Other capital sources for the loan fund are expected from local banks and lending institutions as well as DHCD, CEDAC and the City of Boston.
“This MacArthur Foundation award will help Massachusetts keep thousands of units affordable for families over the next 10 years as we put systems in place to best identify and implement policies and actions to prevent further affordable housing losses,” said Roger Herzog, CEDAC Executive Director.
“We’re excited to be partnering with the Patrick Administration and CEDAC to meet this critical need,” said Joe Flatley, President of Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC). “MHIC looks to build on its track record of financing the preservation of affordable housing, and through this initiative effectively assembling the resources to ensure that this housing is responsibly preserved.”
###

SourceMacArthur Foundation Press Release

State program aids family

State program aids family

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

By JIM DANKO
jdanko@repub.com

AGAWAM – Until recently, Kaitlyn M. Chevalier, who uses a wheelchair, was unable to join her family for meals at the kitchen table.

A wall between the family room and kitchen created a space in the sitting area that was too tight for Chevalier, 18, so she sat in a spot in the kitchen away from the table.

What’s more, the kitchen floor was a step higher than the family room floor. The Chevaliers installed an aluminum ramp, and family members had to push her from one room to the next.

“It wasn’t easy,” her father, Ronald G. Chevalier Jr., said on Sunday from the family’s home at 39 Forest Road.
But with help from a state program, the Chevaliers have been able to pay for modifications. Chevalier said the family obtained a $30,000 loan at 3 percent interest to add a ramp to the front of their home, widen doorways, take down walls and install a lift to help Chevalier use her bed and bath.

The renovations were completed between spring and August, he said. They were allowed to hire the contractor of their choice and picked Mark Pagios Construction, of West Springfield, Chevalier said.

“Modifications like these can make all the difference in the lives of the elderly, adults and children with disabilities,” said Deborah L. Broaden, director of homeownership services for HAPHousing, a housing and homeownership agency for Hampden and Hampshire counties which administers the state loan program in the Springfield area.

The state loans range from $1,000 to $30,000. The program offers 0 percent to 3 percent deferred payment loans, depending on household income.

Homeowners with disabilities, or who live with household members who have disabilities, are eligible. Landlords with tenants with disabilities may also apply for the loans, according to HAPHousing. Prior to the renovations, Ronald Chevalier said he had to lift his daughter into the bathtub. The house was not designed for someone who uses a wheelchair, so the doorways needed to be expanded to 36 inches wide and lifts were installed.

“We just opened up the house as much as we could,” Chevalier said.
Chevalier, a reservist who works at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, and his wife, Kelly M., a nurse at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, have two other children, Rebecca M., 19, Kevin P., 15.
Kaitlyn Chevalier, who suffers from a seizure disorder and a neuromuscular disease called mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, has developmental disabilities that leave her unable to speak. She was able to walk until about three years ago, when she started using a wheelchair, her father said.

Like most teenagers, she enjoys watching movies and listening to music.
The modifications to her bedroom, which included the tearing down of a wall to double the size of the room, allowed her parents to install a large-screen television on the wall, her father said.

“Some of these subtle differences make a huge impact on our lives. Just the space alone,”

Chevalier said from his daughter’s modified bedroom. “We just opened up the house as much as we could. This was a help from a mobility standpoint. With this space here, we can create a more stimulating environment.”

HAPHousing and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission administer the Home Modification Loan Program in Western Massachusetts.

Residents of Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, Northampton, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield interested in the program should contact HAP for more information. People living in all other Western Massachusetts communities should contact the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

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SourceThe Republican (MassLive.com)