40 Units of Elderly Housing To Be Built in Roxbury. HUD Comes Through with 5.3 Million in Funding.
With crossed fingers and held breath on January 14th, Nuestra’s staff received the word that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 202 funding was awarded for the Quincy Commons project - a 40-unit elderly housing development with 5,000 square feet of commercial space on the first floor. For a community in dire need of affordable housing for its elders and construction jobs for its residents, Nuestra’s Quincy Commons development will work toward solving both problems in the near future, with a tentative start date set for Summer 2010.
“We’re thrilled to move this project down the field. Nuestra’s Real Estate Development Team, particularly our Director of Real Estate Development, Marcia Thornhill, and Project Manager, Diane Clark, are to be commended for all their hard work,” noted David Price, Nuestra’s Executive Director. “We need to ensure that the elder members of our community are housed safely and with dignity. Quincy Commons will do just that while giving local construction firms much needed work.” He further noted that focus groups of area seniors helped guide the vision for the project and advocated for it over the past five years. CLICK HERE for complete article.
Artist's Conceptual Rendering
From the right 35 West Newton St. - PreConstruction 2006; Lower-Left Image: Exposed Exterior Building Wall; Upper-Left Image: New Fiberglass Cornice Replacement. 2009 Photos Coming Soon!
Construction Update: 35 West Newton
Thirty five West Newton St. embodies all that a community development organization can achieve with community involvement, public agency partnerships and hard work. Three years ago this building was both financially and physically failing. This single room shared housing development, serving some of Boston’s neediest residents, was in dire need of upgrading. Low rents and unusable space on the first floor made building finances a challenge. The more pressing need, however, was the deterioration of this historic building’s façade. Literally beginning to crumble, the brownstone on this South End cornerstone building was suffering from severe weather deterioration. The challenge was how to restore this building to its former glory, reprogram the building to make it financially self-sustaining and provide better and brighter living conditions for the occupants. CLICK HERE for complete article.
2008 Nuestra Distinguished Service Award Recipient
Paul François, Resident Services Coordinator, Baptist Minister, Social Work student, and father of 3, has been awarded the 2008 Distinguished Service Award by his fellow staff members of Nuestra Comunidad. Paul, originally from Haiti, has lived in Massachusetts for over 20 years, and has worked at Nuestra Comunidad since 2004.
Paul is perhaps best known for his tireless work with the 95 families at Adams Court in Mattapan, successfully organizing their relocation while the buildings were rehabilitated and then assisting them to return to their restored apartments in 2007. But Paul is also responsible for providing support services to residents of 9 other properties with a total of 213 units. He routinely acts as the liaison between the residents and the management company and provides assistance with job search, training, referrals, and housing to the residents.
Beyond his routine duties, Paul also willingly provides translation for Haitian Creole speaking residents in search of housing and other services. He can be found conducting resident meetings to solve issues between the residents or with management as well as providing training to residents in community organizing around issues of local concern. CLICK HERE for complete article.
