Housing Headlines

This is a reminder that the deadline for communities to apply for the the state's 2020 Housing Choice designation is Friday, May 8 at 3 p.m. The Baker Administration's Housing Choice Initiative rewards municipalities that have adopted best practices related to production and have produced certain amounts of new housing in the last five years.

NORTH ANDOVER --- Selectmen have voted to set aside $100,000 to help residents who are having trouble paying their rent due to COVID-19. The decision is part of a wave of interest by communities to use local funds for emergency rental assistance. Since the state of emergency was declared, MHP has received many calls and has issued guidelines on how to fund and administer such programs. https://www.mhp.net/resources?query=&category%5B%5D=Rental+Assistance

SALEM --- A 2019 zoning change to more easily allow religious and municipal buildings to be redeveloped into housing is paying dividends as a local nonprofit is proposing to turn two Catholic schools into 62 mixed-income apartments. The North Shore Community Development Corp. of Salem has announced a $25 million plan to turn the St. James School into 33 units of 55-and-over housing and the St. Mary's School into 29 apartments, with preferences given for people who work in the creative economy.

BOSTON --- A South End nonprofit which serves over 1,500 low-income residents with housing and services has quickly shifted is regular youth programs online, offering regular workshops a week on topics ranging from art, time management and managing social and emotional well-being. Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) Youth Coordinator Pedro Cruz says these workshops will culminate with a final project in which teens will present - on social media - photographs and poetry that express their COVID-19 experiences and hopes for the future.

SPRINGFIELD --- In partnership with Bay State Health, the City of Springfield will begin a COVID-19 testing program for the homeless on Wednesday, April 29 across the street from the Friends of the Homeless Shelter. Tents have been set up to do testing there since early April but officials said it hasn't been widespread due to a delay in the delivery of more testing kits, which they have now.

MEDFORD --- The Medford City Council has OK'd the use of $125,000 in local Community Preservation Act funds for emergency rental assistance for residents impacted by COVID-19. The sum, which will be administered by a Boston nonprofit, is half of what Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn had requested. Some council members hesitated over the possibility that the local funds might go to non-Medford residents because it's being administered by a regional nonprofit but since this story was written, the city has received guidance that it can be directed locally and that proof of address can be requested.