Posted on June 23, 2025
WORCESTER --- Each year MHP honors individuals and communities that exemplify tireless leadership and commitment to supporting and furthering affordable housing across the Commonwealth. Four honorees received this year’s Housing Hero Award. The recipients were honored on the second day of our annual Housing Institute on June 5 at Worcester's DCU Center. Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) Secretary Ed Augustus presented the awards.
Elizabeth “Liz” Rust is Director of the Regional Housing Services Office (RHSO), a collaboration among 10 towns in MetroWest. RHSO provides the member communities of Acton, Bedford, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Maynard, Natick, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston with affordable housing support and information. She was recognized for her role in establishing and leading RHSO. A strong voice in consensus building, she is a champion of strengthening housing as a municipal service. Since 2006 she has assisted MetroWest communities and residents in all aspects of affordable housing. She is an approved lottery and monitoring agent and hosts fair housing trainings.
“It’s we the people in this room, we are the people to take action,” Rust said, looking around the ballroom where the award ceremony was held. “This is a call to action. It’s up to us to change the housing landscape and to bring that opportunity to everyone.”
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) was recognized for its leadership on a thoughtful and inclusive statewide housing justice campaign in support of the Affordable Homes Act. GBIO was instrumental in building grassroots support for the campaign and held large housing advocacy rallies to support preserving the state’s public housing communities. GBIO leadership met with Governor Maura Healey, Housing Secretary Augustus, and state lawmakers. Public housing residents attended the meetings to give first-hand accounts of living conditions. GBIO worked with other advocacy groups for months before the Affordable Homes Act was filed to help craft a collective advocacy strategy. GBIO Strategy Team Co-Chair Philip Hillman accepted the award.
“The lack of safe, decent, and affordable options for housing was highlighted repeatedly,” Hillman said. “The stories and lived experiences of our GBIO leaders living in state-owned public housing paint a vivid picture for us regarding the intolerable conditions that they face day after day. We had to get into this fight.”
Whitney Demetrius is known for bringing boundless energy to housing advocacy and has made fair housing an integral part of any conversation about affordable housing. She recently joined the EOHLC as the state’s inaugural Director of Fair Housing. She was recognized for her tireless work to elevate and further fair housing initiatives across the Commonwealth, at the state and local levels.
“My lived experience certainly drives me in the work that I do and the importance of that work because I understand that fair housing is fair living,” Demetrius said. “Many years ago I committed myself to this effort, understanding how it not only affected my life but the larger community.”
Greenfield Mayor Virginia “Ginny” Desorgher was recognized for the city’s “all hands-on-deck” approach to creating more housing opportunities. A small community of 18,000 residents, Greenfield has used several strategies to drive outcomes, including public-private partnerships, flexible zoning, and using public land for housing.
“When I first took office, housing was one of my most pressing concerns and it is still today,” she said. “None of this happened without the wonderful people of our city that collaborated to help to bring us here.”
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