September 2024 Newsletter

Live, Work, Thrive

Your Update. Your Impact.

A Note from Jay Coburn, President & CEO

After a summer featuring a lot of rain and humidity, we could not have had a more beautiful night for our 10th Annual Summer Evening on the Farm! Over 150 people gathered on August 24th to celebrate our neighbors' resilience, creativity, and determination to build a diverse year-round community of people who can afford to live, work, and thrive here.

One of the highlights of A Summer Evening on the Farm is our Fund a Need Auction. This year, participants were inspired after hearing the story of Katie Castagno and her partner Natalia Redyk and their journey to secure stable, affordable year-round housing by building an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) in Eastham. You can read more about them and their experience in this issue of our Enews.

Attendees at the event stepped up during the auction, donating $200,000 to support the CDP's important work. This, combined with sponsorships and ticket sales, resulted in commitments of over $480,000.

My colleagues and I are profoundly grateful for our community's support and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of families like Katie and Natalia's and thousands of year-round residents. Thank you for helping them build better futures and for being a part of our success.

Jay Coburn

President & Chief Executive Officer

The 10th Annual Summer Evening on the Farm

Surrounded by dedicated, longtime supporters and new friends, in August we celebrated our community's unwavering commitment to the CDP's mission. Thank you to everyone who donated, helping us raise over $480,000 to support our programs and services.

It was inspiring to hear our guest speakers, Katie Castagno and Natalia Redyk, share the positive impact of moving into their Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). As Natalia said, "I can't express to you how much of a relief it is not to worry about where we'll be. Removing the daily anxiety and stress that comes with insecure housing has improved our quality of life tenfold."

We support the CDP! Visit Instagram and Facebook to see more photos of the event.

Success Story

ADU Eases Eastham Residents' Housing Concerns

"We didn't want to leave our dream jobs, and living close to family is important to me. My parents appreciate us -- they didn't want us to move away."

– Katie Castagno, Eastham resident and former CDP client

All of us who live on the Lower and Outer Cape are aware of the impact of the affordable housing crisis. Many of us have friends and family members who don't have access to secure housing, and some have personally experienced housing insecurity.

Building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) is one promising solution to help homeowners remove barriers to creating much-needed housing. While ADUs have been promoted as a solution for adding housing, they are extremely difficult to create. There is a gap between the concept and the practical implementation, which is why the CDP established the ADU Resource Center.

Katie Castagno and Natalia Reydk's new ADU is one of the CDP's success stories. They received the CDP's first $25,000 ADU incentive grant, which enabled them to make a home in Eastham—right in Katie's parents' backyard.

Read more about Katie Castagno and Natalia Redyk's story.

Housing Matters

Detailed Summary of the Affordable Homes Act

"We are so grateful to have many new resources and tools in the toolbox to address the housing crisis on the Lower and Outer Cape."

– Jay Coburn, President and CEO of Community Development Partnership

On August 5, 2024, Governor Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act, a robust $5.16 billion housing bond bill that includes several key policy priorities for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. Most of the Affordable Homes Act lays critical groundwork for the necessary resources and zoning changes to increase housing production and protect residents. The Healey administration projects that the Affordable Homes Act will support the production, preservation, and rehabilitation of more than 65,000 homes statewide over the next five years. It is the most significant housing bond bill ever filed in Massachusetts, at over triple the spending authorizations of the last housing bill passed in 2018,

Read more about the Affordable Homes Act.

Supporting Local Business Owners

Finding Peace and Growth on Lower and Outer Cape Cod

“It means so much to be able to focus on creating a successful life and career.”

– Eugene Zhukau, Founder and Owner of Arbor Harbor and CDP Client

Provincetown resident Eugene Zhukau first traveled to the U.S. in 2010 on a J-1 student visa, intending to work the summer in Cape May, New Jersey. Unfortunately, his living and working situation in New Jersey didn’t work out. Thankfully, he found another Cape needing seasonal help through a Google search. He says fate led him to Provincetown, where he found opportunities to pursue his passions for trees, natural landscapes, and a supportive LGBTQ+ community.

After the summer, Eugene returned to Europe to study cinematography in Moscow and work for various news agencies in Russia and Belarus. Originally from Minsk, Belarus, Eugene felt increasingly uneasy and unsafe, given negative portrayals and hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community in Russia and his home country.