Your Monthly Update
from the Community Development Partnership
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A Word from Jay...
Springtime on the Lower Cape?
Welcome to what I refer to as the second of our three months of March! Spring comes slowly to the Lower and Outer Cape. I guess it’s the cost of the beautiful fall weather we typically enjoy. And while it may still seem like the quiet off-season, the CDP staff are already busy consulting with small businesses who are eager to make the most of a busy summer. We have been helping businesses identify and implement growth strategies, up their marketing game, and apply for loans to invest in their enterprises.
What we are struggling to do is help them manage the severe shortage of workers caused by our region’s affordable housing crisis. While this summer’s housing shortage for worker's is predicted to be worse than ever, I’m encouraged to see our Lower Cape Towns bringing forth numerous Town Meeting Articles that will give them more tools to create year-round housing for both critical members of our year-round community and seasonal temporary summer workers.
The health and vitality of our communities is at stake and so I urge you to mark your calendars, attend the Annual Town Meeting in your town and support these important pro-housing initiatives. You can find a list of Town Meeting dates and links to the warrant articles in this issue of our E-news.
Thanks for helping us to build a stronger, more diverse year-round Lower Cape community of people who can live, work and thrive here. See you at Town Meeting!
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Jay Coburn
President & Chief Executive Officer
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Supporting Local Business |
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Creating Opportunities for Local Fishermen |
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“The meetings with the CDP staff are a great opportunity to check up on the business and think about my plans for the future.”
–Jared Bennett, Owner, F/V White Cap
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Commercial fishing is not only historically significant to the Lower and Outer Cape, but it is still one of the largest drivers of the economy. Chatham, Wellfleet, and Provincetown all rank in the top 10 fishing ports in Massachusetts by value according to a report by the Division of Marine Fisheries. To support local fishing businesses, the Community Development Partnership (CDP) offers business support programs in partnership with the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust. The Trust was established in 2015 by the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance and provides various programs to promote good business practices and establish the Cape's next generation of fishermen, like Jared Bennett.
For Jared, who was born and raised in Chatham, fishing runs in his blood. Both his grandfather and dad were commercial fishermen. After his dad retired from fishing, he decided to buy an old fishing vessel for recreational use. In 2012, when Jared and his brother were older, they re-equipped the boat for commercial use and went into business together.
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Providing Housing for Essential Workers |
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“I know how difficult it is to find housing and I am grateful for
the Community Development Partnership.”
–Ingrid Mattis, Resident, Nelson Avenue
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The high cost of housing and lack of rentals on the Outer Cape threaten to displace our communities’ essential workers. Those who are lucky enough to find a rental are often forced to move during the summer months as the owners will rent weekly or monthly to vacationers for much higher rates. The Community Development Partnership (CDP) manages 33 affordable and market-rate rentals in Provincetown in an effort to keep workers in town. One resident is Ingrid Mattis, a friendly face at the Provincetown Stop and Shop.
Ingrid and her husband immigrated to the United States from Jamaica and lived in New York and then Florida before finally settling in Provincetown in 2010. Once in Provincetown, the family lived in housing provided by her husband’s employer.
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Supporter Spotlight: Christina Bologna |
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"We all know it can be an uphill battle when addressing housing issues, but it’s good to know the CDP takes a leadership role in educating the community.”
–Christina Bologna, CDP Supporter
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When Christina Bologna’s family moved to Cape Cod in 1987, she was three years old and the Cape was still quiet for most of the year with the majority of local businesses closing in the off-season. After moving from Houston, Texas, Christina’s family landed in Brewster and eventually moved to Harwich when her parents bought the family home in 1994. Christina has fond memories of growing up in a close-knit town, although, like many kids she grew up with, Christina eventually left the Cape to go to college and lived in a few different areas before moving back to the Cape in 2011.
“After moving back, it was such a different experience than what I remember,” shared Christina. “The quiet, small-town feeling had changed. It seemed as if there was a population explosion, but I also realized how many people I grew up with never came back after they left for school. There was a stigma that there were not enough job opportunities, and the cost of living was too high, access to resources too low, and the quiet in the winter too isolating,” she stated. Christina recalled that, at the time, there was widespread concern over the mass exodus of young people from the Cape and, wanting to be part of the solution, she got involved with Cape Cod Young Professionals, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and other local influencers.
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Support Housing at your Annual Town Meeting |
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Provincetown
Monday, April 4 at 6 PM
Continued on April 5-6, if needed
Provincetown Town Hall
260 Commercial Street
Truro
Saturday, April 30 at 11 AM
Truro Central School ballfield
317 Route 6
Eastham
Monday, May 2, time TBD
Nauset Regional Highschool
100 Cable Road
Harwich
Monday, May 2 at 7 PM
Community Center
100 Oak Street
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Orleans
Monday, May 9, time TBD
Nauset Regional Middle School
70 MA-Route 28
Chatham
Saturday, May 14 at 1 PM
Chatham Middle School
425 Crowell Road
Brewster
Saturday, May 14 at 10 AM
Stonybrook Elementary
384 Underpass Road
Wellfleet
Saturday, June 11 at 10 AM
Location TBD
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*Dates, times, and locations are subject to change, please check your town's website a week before the scheduled date. Meeting warrants are posted at least one week before the scheduled date. |
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30th Annual Meeting
Join the CDP’s Board of Directors and staff as we celebrate our achievements and milestones at our 30th Annual Meeting! This year’s event will be hosted at the Wellfleet Preservation Hall on Thursday, May 19, 2022.
We will recognize the recipients of our community awards and share our plans for moving forward in our 30th year.
When: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM, doors open at 5:15 PM
Where: Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main Street, Wellfleet, MA 02667
A $25 per person donation is requested to help defray meeting costs.
Thank you to our sponsors:
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*The is an outdoor event but will be moved inside in the case of inclement weather. |
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Nominations are Open for our Community Awards
The deadline for nominations is April 5th
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Each year, the Community Development Partnership presents two awards to distinguished members of our community — the Gwen Pelletier Award for Excellence in Community Service and the Norm Edinberg Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship. We are now accepting nominations for the 2022 awards.
The Gwen Pelletier Award for Excellence in Community Service was created to
honor former longtime Executive Director, Gwen Pelletier for her years of service to the Lower Cape Community. It recognizes individuals, businesses, or organizations
for their involvement and support for maintaining the economic diversity of the
Lower Cape.
The Norm Edinberg Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship was created to honor former longtime CDP Board Member, Norm Edinberg for his years of service to the CDP and for supporting small business development on the Lower Cape. The Award recognizes an established Lower Cape business owner who has utilized CDP business and credit services, and who has an established community connection through social responsibility, environmental sustainability, volunteer time, or financial contributions.
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2021 Gwen Pelletier Award Winner Vicki Goldsmith |
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2021 Norm Edinberg Award winner Sunbird Kitchen |
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8th Annual Summer Evening on the Farm
Mark your calendars! The Community Development Partnership is excited to announce our annual Summer Evening on the Farm will be held on August 24th at Halcyon Farm in Brewster.
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Provincetown resident Brad Badgley has joined the CDP’s staff as Director of Housing Advocacy. Brad’s primary focus is supporting the creation of affordable housing by managing the Lower Cape Community Housing Partnership as well as managing the CDP’s Homeownership Education program.
Prior to joining the CDP, Brad served as an Associate Dean in Residential Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has an M.Ed. in Student Affairs and Higher Education Administration and a B.A. in Communications from Wright State University along with doctoral coursework in Counseling, Adult and Higher Education from Northern Illinois University. Brad completed six years of honorable service in the U.S. Air Force and Illinois Air National Guard.
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Mallorey Yannone joined the CDP as Community Organizer, a newly created position designed to support the CDP’s Housing Advocacy Programs. In this role, she will be conducting outreach, base building, training, education, and leadership development for Lower Cape residents wanting to support affordable housing.
Before joining the CDP, Mallorey, who currently lives in Eastham, worked for Citizen Action of New York advocating for Social Justice issues and initiatives including Voting Rights, Climate Justice, Parole Reform, and Housing Justice. She earned her BA in History and German from SUNY New Paltz and her MA in Modern and Contemporary German Studies from the University of Nottingham in the UK.
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Apply for a Housing Rehab Loan |
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Our Housing Rehabilitation Program is available to income-qualified residents of Eastham, Truro, and Provincetown. Qualified residents can receive up to $40,000 per household to pay for critical home repairs (such as roofing and siding, electrical, heating, and plumbing work), lead paint abatement, and energy efficiency upgrades to keep their properties in good condition for the long term. And with local contractors doing the work, it helps keep our local economy strong.
The program is designed to preserve existing homes for year-round residents at or below 80% of the median area income.
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CDP Adopts Racial Equity Pledge |
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Last month the CDP joined 26 other community development corporations across Massachusetts in adopting the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations' (MACDC's) racial equity pledge.
The pledge outlines four values for organizations to embrace, and a number of action steps to advance each value.
- We commit to learning and addressing the different levels of racism so we can take action to dismantle those inequities.
- We believe that our staff should be diverse, equitable, inclusive, and representative of the communities we serve.
- We believe that our board should be diverse, equitable, inclusive, and representative of the communities we serve.
- We believe in authentic representation in our programming/services.
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Free Small Business Assistance
The CDP's Business & Credit program team is available for one-on-one technical assistance. Starting this month the CDP will resume in-person technical assistance at the Provincetown Commons, Harwich Cultural Center, and our offices in Eastham.
If you are unable to meet in person or prefer to meet remotely, we will continue to offer assistance via phone and video conference.
Click the link below to schedule a 30 or 60-minute appointment!
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Follow the CDP on Social Media |
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Additional Resources for Businesses |
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We have created a separate page on our website that is a compilation of resources for local businesses, including various SBA, unemployment, and other federal programs. |
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If you or someone you know is interested in receiving weekly updates from our Business and Credit Program that are targeted to small businesses, please sign up for our Inside Scoop.
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