MassHousing Update, May 2019
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MassHousing's commitment to quality affordable housing extends well beyond dollars and cents, bricks and mortar. Through our Community Services Department, we work to support the people who live and work in and around the hundreds of multifamily developments we finance and oversee. Community Services' diverse and impactful efforts play a key role in confronting the Commonwealth's housing challenges to improve the lives of its people.
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Register Today: Community Services Conference, June 4
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MassHousing’s
2019 Community Services Conference
,
Supporting Those Affected by Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Housing
, will be held Tuesday, June 4 in Norwood.
Each year, MassHousing brings together experts from housing, social services, academia and other areas to explore a topic facing affordable housing communities.
This year's conference will include opening remarks from Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. Cathy Draine, Director of Resident Services and Executive Director of the Neighborhood Network Center for for UHM Properties, will share her experience as a survivor of domestic abuse. Panels and workshops are also planned for the day-long event.
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MassHousing works on multiple fronts to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault
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While MassHousing is best known for financing affordable housing, the Agency has worked for many years and in many ways to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
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Where guns were once seized, a playground emerges
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Two years ago, three guns were seized by police in Unity Park next to the Sonoma, Maple, Schuyler housing development in Boston, which had been rehabilitated by MassHousing in the mid-2000s.
Fast forward to April 25, 2019, where the site was a scene of community teamwork and celebration, as a new playground was built by more than 300 volunteers.
Continue reading...
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The Tenancy Preservation and Healthcare Connection
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In 1998, MassHousing's Community Services Department recognized that when residents lacked adequate access to health-related services they struggled to succeed in the community. The Tenancy Preservation Program (TPP) was created to prevent homelessness through intensive, highly skilled intervention with residents at risk of eviction due to lease violations resulting from disabilities, behavioral health disorders, and/or age-related impairments.
Today, healthcare providers have recognized that inadequate access to affordable housing impacts patient health.
Continue reading...
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MassHousing and Roxbury-based nonprofit collaborate on youth safety task force to assist Somali immigrants
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Massachusetts is home to 10,000 Somalis, 8,000 of whom live in Boston. Ninety percent of the Somali population resides in low-income or subsidized housing, much of which is provided by MassHousing.
Over the past three years, MassHousing's Community Services Department has been working with the Refugee & Immigrant Assistance Center, a Roxbury-based, non-profit, grassroots human service agency that provides comprehensive services to refugees, asylees, and immigrants.
Continue reading...
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Trainings Focus on Intersection of Social Issues and Housing
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It's been more than 30 years since MassHousing offered its first Tenant Assistance Program training to property management staff. Today, trainings offered by the Community Services Department have expanded in topic, number and audience.
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Spring is a Busy Time for Hoarding Events, Trainings and Local Support Groups
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MassHousing's Community Service Department has worked with state and local housing and service partners for more than 20 years, leading the effort to understand and address the many facets of hoarding. The statewide effort to address hoarding includes support for local teams engaged in a variety of activities.
Continue reading...
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NERSC Conference Returns to Massachusetts
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