Secretary Kennealy’s #15k4ma Tour Looks At Affordable Housing In The Commonwealth
Secretary Kennealy’s #15k4ma Tour Looks At Affordable Housing In The Commonwealth
August 9, 2019
Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy has just completed a very special tour across the Commonwealth. Over the course of eight days, he stopped in multiple communities to highlight 28 affordable housing projects in various stages of development across Massachusetts, and by doing so, he has demonstrated why the state remains a national leader in community development. The tour, which you can learn about at Secretary Kennealy’s Twitter account and by searching the hashtag #15k4ma, began by celebrating the funding announcement recently made by the Baker-Polito Administration supporting the production and preservation of 1,349 affordable housing units in the state…
The South Coast tour moved on to New Bedford, where we visited two important supportive housing projects. The first project, Willis Street Apartments, is under construction and will provide permanent supportive housing for veterans. This project is being developed through a strong collaboration between two non-profits: Veterans Transition House and the Women’s Development Corporation. CEDAC has managed the state’s Housing Innovations Fund investment in this project. We then toured the second project, developed by the YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts. The organization’s “Under One Roof” project features the co-location of new supportive housing for formerly homeless women and a new out-of-school time child care facility.
This YWCA project has received financial and technical support from CEDAC and our affiliate, the Children’s Investment Fund. We are so proud to partner with the dynamic YWCA team, led by Executive Director Gail Fortes. Gail led the tour for Secretary Kennealy and senior DHCD officials, including Undersecretary of Housing and Community Development Janelle Chan and Associate Director Kate Racer. Hearing Gail’s passion and excitement about this new YWCA facility reminded us of why we featured her as one of the speakers at our 40th anniversary celebration in March. You can read more about this project and other developments that have co-located child care and housing in this Banker and Tradesman op-ed from January 2018.
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