New Markets Tax Credits Archives

State-of-the-Art building will provide critical social and early education services to homeless children and their families

Roxbury, MA – September 21, 2018 – Horizons for Homeless Children, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of young homeless children and their families, and WaterMark Development, Inc. today broke ground on the new Horizons’ Center, a 140,000-square-foot social services center in Roxbury.

The center, located at 1785 Columbus Ave., is the first-of-its-kind in Massachusetts and will improve the education, health and well-being of the city’s homeless families by providing on-site early education programs as well as access to a variety of social services to help parents navigate the many complexities of homelessness.

“We are very excited to expand our reach and provide services to more children and their families through the additional space and resources in the new center,” said Kate Barrand, CEO of Horizons for Homeless Children. “We are grateful to WaterMark for partnering with Horizons on the new building, as well as the many donors who are making it possible for us to change the trajectory of our city’s homeless families.”

In addition to serving as the headquarters for Horizons and the location of their new 35,000-square-foot Early Education Center serving 225 children (ages two months to five years), the building will house the Department of Children and Families regional office, the national offices of YouthBuild USA, the Boston office of Room to Grow and a new restaurant concept owned by the local Abreu family.

The unique public/private joint venture between Horizons and WaterMark Development features the collaborative design efforts of studioMLA Architects and Embarc Studio and will be built by Commodore Builders. The project is a significant investment in the Roxbury community, providing valuable new services and bringing approximately 400 new jobs to the Jackson Square area. The Horizons Center is scheduled to open its doors in 2020.

Funding for this project is made possible through a unique combination of private gifts, new markets tax credits and construction financing provided by a bank consortium led by Eastern Bank and including Boston Private, The Life Initiative and Boston Community Capital. New Markets Tax Credit funding for the project was provided by MassDevelopment, Rose Urban Green Fund, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC), The Community Builders, Building America CDE, Partners for the Common Good, and Northern Trust. Additional funding was provided by Children’s Investment Fund, an affiliate of CEDAC.

About Horizons for Homeless Children
Horizons for Homeless Children is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of young homeless children and their families. Horizons provides high quality early education, comprehensive family support services, opportunities for play, and statewide advocacy work. Today, Horizons serves more than 1,600 young homeless children each week in Massachusetts through three early education centers and more than 90 shelter-based Playspaces. For more information about Horizons for Homeless Children, please visit: www.horizonschildren.org.

About WaterMark Development, Inc.

For nearly 30 years WaterMark Development, Inc. has worked to restore Jamaica Plain and its surrounding area. By focusing on important historic buildings and forgotten or contaminated sites, we improve our neighborhood. With great attention paid to the accurate historic renovation of notable buildings, combined with the cutting edge building techniques and time honored craftsmanship, our diligence has made a lasting impression on the community. WaterMark is a full service developer and builder involved from the site acquisition, to neighborhood permitting process through the conclusion of each building project. WaterMark ensures best practices along every step of the process creating good will in every community in which we work.

SourceHorizons for Homeless Children

Local, city and state leaders joined early education advocates, and others Monday to officially break ground on Educare Springfield, a nationally recognized school model that is among just 24 of its kind in the country.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and project leaders gathered at a construction site on Hickory Street to celebrate the project’s groundbreaking and reflect on the seven years of work that went in to bringing the nearly $14 million facility to the city.

John Davis, a trustee of The Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation which helped lead the effort to bring Educare to Springfield, said the new school will provide “an incredible opportunity for Springfield’s youngest citizens.

“Educare Springfield: It’s here,” he said. “This is a clear demonstration that we are investing in the education of the children beginning at birth.”

Polito praised local leaders and partners for their “incredible” work in attracting Educare to Springfield, particularly to a part of the city ravaged by the 2011 tornado.

“What you’re doing is rebuilding this neighborhood. Because these are children who are born here, literally, starting their education here and then being part — eventually, the hope is — of the workforce that will then become employed here in this neighborhood or nearby,” she said. “And then lay their own roots and create the next generation of talent, of leaders — really bringing this city forward to where we all know it could be.”

Polito said it’s “quite an honor” to partner with the city on effort.

Sarno welcomed Educare to Springfield, calling the project a “win-win opportunity” for the city.

“Educare is a significant investment here in the city of Springfield and it’s another public and private partnership, with everybody working together for the same goal for our children,” he said. “Giving them this foundation is going to allow them and their families to be able to avoid poverty, to avoid public safety issues — you just can’t put a price tag on that.”

Mary Walachy, executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, said while officials had walked away from the project at one point out of cost concerns, they received $9.6 million in funding from an anonymous, out-of-state donor.

The project also received about $3.5 million in New Markets Tax Credits, a $1 million Early Education and Out of School Time grant and a $1 million MassWorks grant for public infrastructure work, as well as private and corporate support, Walachy said.

In addition to money raised for the project, she noted that officials have set aside $7 million for an endowment to support the school’s operating expenses.

“At the end of the day, what matters is what happens in this building. What matters is that we make good on our promise to the children that you were able to see today and their families, and many others who will be in this building,” she said. “This is going to be Head Start on steroids.”

Educare Springfield, which is slated to open in late 2019 on land provided by Springfield College adjacent to Brookings School, will offer local students an early education model that aims to narrow the achievement gap for children living in poverty. It will provide a full-day and full-year program for up to 141 children from birth to age five each year.

The Educare model incorporates embedded and ongoing professional development of teachers, intensive family engagement and high quality teaching practices, as well as uses data to advance student outcomes.

Educare, a national collaboration between the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Ounce of Prevention Fund and other public-private partnerships across the country, has 23 schools located in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

SourceMassLive