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Highlights April 20, 2016
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“I’ve been in that building for 16 years. And they didn’t give us an option to stay. It’s just pack your stuff and move. That’s my home. I’ve been here for 49 years, and once they start to improve the area, now they want to move me out. Is that fair? I don’t think so.”
— Felicha Young, Dudley Square resident, in an
interview with WBUR News
; 3/15/16 (photo courtesy of City Life/Vida Urbana)
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In Greater Boston, we’re reminded daily of the affordable housing crisis being experienced by low and moderate income families. A number of organizations receiving support from the Hyams Foundation are working in Boston to introduce policies on a municipal level to keep these families in their homes and create more affordable housing. The following policy proposals are currently being considered by the Boston City Council:
- Standing Up for a Right to Remain: One approach that these groups are pursuing is passage of a Just Cause Eviction ordinance in Boston designed to increase tenant protections and help stem the tide of evictions and housing displacement. To learn more about the proposed ordinance, click here for the Right to Remain Coalition’s statement.
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“We’ve seen so many instances of corporate landlords buying up properties and sending out eviction notices so they can clear out buildings, make minor renovations, and then raise rents. We’ve got families who’ve lived in their homes for decades who face landlords who want to double and triple their rents. This ordinance empowers these families with basic safeguards that will help keep them in their homes.” —
Lisa Owens, Executive Director, City Life/Vida Urbana
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- Creating More Affordable Housing: Another approach is tapping into new sources of revenues to increase affordable housing, including passage of the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in Boston. To learn more about CPA, click here.
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Affordable housing built for senior citizens using CPA funds in Northborough, Massachusetts.
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“More than 9,400 affordable housing units have been built in the 160 cities and towns across the Commonwealth that have ratified CPA legislation. This year, Boston has an opportunity to access this state resource and raise millions of new dollars that would go towards the production of affordable housing, among other community benefits.” — Joseph Kriesberg, President, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC)
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- Supporting Grassroots Efforts to Address Housing Needs: On April 1, 2016, the Hyams trustees approved grants to six organizations focused on addressing the affordable housing crisis. City Life/Vida Urbana, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Fenway Community Development Corporation, Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, Homes for Families, and MACDC are all working on issues related to affordable housing access on a neighborhood, city, and/or state level.
For a full list of grants approved at the April 1st board meeting, please click here.
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Supporting Immigrant Rights
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On March 31, the Mayor's Office of New Bostonians (MONB) convened 21 grant recipients of its DACA/DAPA* Outreach Initiative, part of a funder collaboration to support immigrant rights. Hyams, together with local funding partners the Boston, Fish Family and Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundations, provided matching funds for a national Open Society Foundations’ grant for this effort. The initiative will support outreach and education activities to build awareness, prevent fraud, and provide eligibility screenings and application assistance once DAPA and the expanded DACA program applications become available. These activities are especially timely as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on President Obama’s executive order on DAPA and DACA on April 18. Hyams is supporting this unique initiative through its Special Opportunities Fund, bringing public and private partners, and local and national funders, together to advance immigrant rights and opportunities. To learn more about the initiative, click here.
*Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs
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The Hyams Foundation is a private, independent foundation with a mission of increasing economic, racial and social justice and power within low-income communities in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts.
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