The mission of the Planning Office, a non-profit affordable housing developer, is to serve as a catalyst for social justice through its work in housing development and neighborhood revitalization. The Planning Office is responsible for developing over 3,000 units of housing to date, revitalizing neighborhoods and towns throughout metropolitan Boston. | |
POUA has accomplished a great deal over the last 50 years, but there is much work left to be done, as so many people in our communities still do not have access to decent, safe affordable housing.
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Dear Friends,
As we head into the holiday season and embrace fall, a season of change, we reflect on some milestones worth celebrating this year. On September 21st, we were able to celebrate the work of the office, and thank all of its supporters and partners, with an in-person fundraiser for the first time since 2017. It was a joyful night as we celebrated and honored Lisa Alberghini, Executive Vice President of the Housing Partnership Network, for her commitment to the Planning Office over 18 years as its President, and her continued impact on the housing world. Fr. Oscar Pratt and Fr. Jack Ahern helped to honor Lisa with their musical talents and kind words, respectively, and many of Lisa's colleagues and friends contributed videos acknowledging her incredible contribution to the field with personal words of appreciation. It was a wonderful night that reminded us that it takes partnerships, patience, commitment and a lot of perseverance to get the work of affordable housing done, and to provide every person, regardless of their background, with a safe place to live with dignity and respect.
We have also gathered results from our health and housing survey and are working to address residents' health needs and concerns at our downtown Boston development, The Union at 48 Boylston. For the remainder of the year and into Spring of next year, we will also collect health survey responses from residents moving into our Cote Village Apartments in Mattapan; our intern Elisabeth Stam will be working with us to analyze the survey results and to research existing services and programming that we can connect residents to, serving our residents in a more holistic way.
As we look forward to 2023, we look forward to completing construction of Morton Station Village in Mattapan and making significant progress on the 750+ units in various stages of development in our pipeline. These efforts will enable us to continue to respond to the housing crisis by providing more individuals and families with the greatest need in our communities across the Commonwealth with safe, quality housing they can afford. We remain firm in supporting the housing first model, in which having a stable, permanent home is the first stepping stone to improving an individual's physical, economic and social well-being. We are extremely grateful to everyone who supports our mission, and to all those we are blessed to partner with on our projects.
With gratitude,
William H. Grogan, President
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POUA 50th Anniversary Fundraiser | |
POUA celebrated our 50th Anniversary at our Fundraiser on September 21st at The Exchange in the Seaport's fish pier, where we were grateful to honor Lisa Alberghini, Executive Vice President of the Housing Partnership Network (HPN), for 18 years at the Planning Office, and for all of her work in the affordable and mixed-income housing world. We're incredibly thankful to everyone who supported us this year, and every year, as we raised $400,000 this year. The money raised from the fundraiser will go directly towards supporting our affordable housing work, including Sanctuary Place, an 8-room residential home we have acquired that will house women who are survivors of trafficking; as well as supporting our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including sponsoring interns through Project Destined at HPN, which introduces a diverse group of students to affordable housing as a career. Click below thumbnail to watch a video recap of the fundraiser! | |
150 River Street, Mattapan | |
The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) funded our 150 River Street project in Mattapan in July and is supporting the project with low-income housing tax credits and other affordable housing subsidy funds. POUA is pairing this funding award with additional funds awarded by the City of Boston and by the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). POUA is grateful for DHCD's continued support of our work and our mission, advancing affordable housing in the City of Boston. We look forward to starting construction in 2023. | |
Housing Partnership Network Student Site Visits | |
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POUA partnered with the Housing Partnership Network (HPN) to walk Project Destined students through two of our affordable and mixed-income housing properties in Boston, The Union at 48 Boylston and West End Place, in October. This tour was as an opportunity to introduce the students to affordable housing as a career, as well as a close look at affordable housing sites and their residents.
The visits were part of HPN's Affordable Housing Bridge Program, a collaboration to help diverse students bridge their education to real-world experience in the affordable housing industry. Their program introduces alumni from Project Destined, which partners with schools and nonprofits to train underserved students in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real estate, to potential career paths by way of site visits and meetings with nonprofit affordable housing organizations.
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In keeping with our mission to provide permanent affordable housing for at-risk populations, the Planning Office is excited to announce our partnership with Elizabeth Stone House on its One Westminster development. Stone House serves adult and child survivors of domestic violence and helps them rebuild safe, secure and independent lives. The provision of permanent affordable housing is a critical step in that process, and we look forward to working with Stone House to provide much needed housing and services. | |
John M. Corcoran & Company, the property management company for our Kent Village development in Scituate, held a company-wide resident appreciation day in August called “Camp Corcoran," which started with a grab-and-go breakfast and continued with make your own trail mix, lunch, make your own sundaes, and lastly, camp bingo with prizes. They also set up games for all-day play! | |
Our property management Maloney Properties hasbeen planning events for residents at West End Place, our landmark mixed-income development in downtown Boston. Pictured here are residents at an ice cream/backpack giveaway in August, a coffee hour in September, and a Halloween party in October! | |
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In September, our D’Youville development for low-income seniors in Lowell, took part in a campus cookout that included a car show, games for kids, food, music and raffles. Bruyere Gardens Residents and staff contributed to a “pot of gold” raffle basket to help raise money for the D’Youville foundation.
There was also an international flag parade to celebrate the diversity in the D’Youville Community, where residents cheered for the flag bearers from outside, and from their apartment windows. They were all excited to see how diverse their community is and enjoyed seeing the different flag colors.
Residents also continue to gather to play bingo, POKENO, and have coffee with neighbors throughout the months. They also held an activity to wish farewell to a maintenance employee who was leaving the company to pursue another work opportunity.
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Our asset manager Mary Wambui-Ekop spoke with Energy Nerd Show to discuss "Competing Goals in Climate and Housing." Watch the full conversation above! | |
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Amarillys Rodriguez is being recognized for the leadership role she has taken in guiding several Planning Office projects through the development process, and building relationships with our partners while serving on the boards of Builders of Color Coalition (BCC) and Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). As Senior Project Manager, she will continue to act in this capacity as well as expand her role in building relationships with foundations and other funders and help design and implement special initiatives. Congratulations to Amarillys on this promotion!
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Builders of Color Coalition Board Member | |
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As of August 11, the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) instituted a new policy to promote diversity within large private development projects in the City of Boston. BPDA held a press conference at City Hall to announce the introduction of DEI disclosures as part of the Article 80 process.
Our Senior Project Manager, and Builders of Color Coalition (BCC) Board member, Amarillys Rodriguez was on hand as Colleen Fonseca, executive director of BCC made a statement at the press conference, "As the Builders of Color Coalition, we are pleased to see the City moving forward in increasing access and diversity in Boston's commercial real estate sector. This proposed policy can empower the development community to highlight and promote innovative solutions to transform commercial real estate into a sector of opportunity and diversity."
The policy requests that proponents disclose plans to include economic participation, employment, and management roles for people of color, women, and certified Minority and Women Owned Businesses within their project, as part of the Article 80 review process for Large Projects. This will also include Planned Development Areas, and Institutional Master Plans. The policy builds on the BPDA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements that ask bidders for public land parcels to outline a DEI plan. The BPDA is collecting these Plans for informational purposes to understand disparities in the real estate market, increase M/WBE participation over time, and evaluate strategies to drive greater impact. Read more here.
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Catholic Community Fund Presentation | |
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In October, Catholic Community Fund held their first Social Service Convening, a gathering of supporters and partnering organizations, to deeper understand each organization's unique mission and work in the Greater Boston area. POUA presented an overview of our work, alongside Catholic Charities Boston and St. Mary's Center for Women and Children.
Lynne Sullivan, Executive Director of the Catholic Community Fund, said, "The Catholic Community Fund was thrilled to have so many attend this first Convening and we look forward to continuing to host similar discussions and collaborations." Read more about the inaugural event in The Pilot here.
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The Planning Office has enrolled in AmazonSmile! Click on the photo to link our office to your account and, on eligible purchases, 0.5% of the price will go to POUA. If you install this you'll automatically be redirected to AmazonSmile while shopping on Amazon, and you won't miss out on making any donations!
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The Planning Office for Urban Affairs
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