NOAH NEWS

MISSION: NOAH, a community development corporation, promotes equity,

community cohesion, environmental justice and economic resiliency. We increase

access to affordable housing, create social and economic opportunities,

and empower residents to be leaders of change.

NOAH celebrates NeighborWorks Week 2025, a dedicated time to showcase the collective impact of NWA network organizations and the power of resident-led change.

NeighborWorks Week is an annual celebration that engages nearly 250 organizations across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in activities that promote housing stability, financial empowerment and community investment.

From June 7-14, 2025, NOAH will be participating in NeighborWorks Week to amplify the message of NeighborWorks and the network. This year’s theme, “Creating Homes, Building America”, reflects the importance of expanding housing opportunities, strengthening communities and fostering economic resilience. Whether through homeownership programs, rental housing solutions, financial education workshops or community partnerships, the network is committed to increasing access to safe, stable homes. All week, the NeighborWorks network will be celebrating how organizations and residents work together to create opportunity, strengthen neighborhoods and build a better future for all

As a NeighborWorks Charter Organization, we invite you to join us in celebrating NeighborWorks Week by learning more about NOAH's programing and our efforts to support creating homes, building America, and strengthening communities, including those detailed below. And don't forget, you can directly support our programming by making a donation at noahcdc.org/donate. Even a small contribution can make a big impact!

COMMUNITY BUILDING & ENVIRONMENT

Youth InspirArt

In May, Members of NOAH's Youth Leadership program and the NeighborWorks Community Leadership Institute (CLI), a program that empowers NOAH community members through leadership and learning in collaboration with NeighborWorks America, hosted the Youth InspirArt Exhibition and Contest. East Boston students were invited to showcase their incredible artwork through photography and painting. The winning pieces remained on exhibition in East Boston Library for the two weeks following the event. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Summer Programming

'Learn to Kayak and Boating Safety' will be returning this July, at Constitution Beach. Free and open to all, the program runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 10:30am to 4:30pm from July 11 though to August 17. This program offers a great opportunity to make the most of East Boston’s waterfront during summer. No prior kayaking experience is required and NOAH has an established fleet of user-friendly kayaks for use. Each year, NOAH welcomes over a thousand residents to enjoy the East Boston waterfront through this free, bilingual and thrilling initiative.

Also returning this summer, the children's soccer program continues to bring young neighborhood residents together for important community-building and physical activity. NOAH has offered free bilingual soccer program for children ages 6-12 since 2006. This summer, The Soccer Program will be held three days a week, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, from 3pm to 6pm, and will run from July 9 through August 17 at American Legion Playground, 25 Glendon St., East Boston.

NOAH Youth Organizers (N-YO)

The bilingual NOAH Youth Leadership Development program offers East Boston teens the opportunity to develop their leadership skills and gain experiential knowledge as they spearhead numerous community activities that address negative environmental issues. The Youth are continuing their air filter project, in which they address East Boston's poor air quality by building and distributing free air purifiers. Their Clean Air initiative also includes working with our partners (including Mothers Out Front, Air Inc. and others) on community focused education events and air quality data tracking with multiple sensors in the homes of participating families. Over the summer, NOAH’s youth organizers will be helping to coordinate and host additional free bilingual activities and events for the community throughout East Boston, while continuing to maintain the neighborhood's newest tree canopy plantings to help address the 'heat island effect' in East Boston. (Picture right, members of the NOAH Youth program at a Belle Isle Marsh clean-up event in partnership with the Mystic River Watershed Association.)

English for Speakers of Other Languages

NOAH’s ESOL program helps new Bostonians learn, improve, and practice their use of the written and oral English language in a comfortable, communal environment. Learning English is considered a wealth-building program because language learning is pathway to getting a job, a work promotion or even being able to start a new business. The current semester will break up for summer this June. Classes will return in September, with four groups at Level Low, Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. (Pictured left, members the Level 3 class with instructor Jim Dougherty.)

NOAH educates between 100-150 individuals annually though ESOL-related programing. NOAH is very proud of its dedicated instructors, current attendees and all our past graduates!

If you are interested in any of the CBE initiatives above, including the Youth Leadership and ESOL programming, please contact Manlio Mendez at mmendez@noahcdc.org or 617- 418-8242.

NOAH’s Rental Homelessness Prevention and Emergency Housing Assistance programming, largely funded by the City of Boston, helps residents maintain or obtain their apartments and avoid or mitigate homelessness. This programming assists those who are newly homeless to obtain shelter or a new apartment, especially fire, flood and other emergency victims, as well as working to prevent evictions 'up-stream'. These efforts are part of our commitment to low- and moderate-income Boston residents in need of support related to accessing affordable housing opportunities locally. As of early May, NOAH case managers had worked to prevent 39 evictions, secure 37 new housing placements, provide 13 families with shelter placements, and process 196 Tenant Stabilization Fund applications (awarding $543,285) and 54 NOAH Foundation grants (at $54,665) as well as 32 NeighborShare awards ($12,800) so far since the start of the City of Boston fiscal year.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to the wonderful primary supporters of these important service lines, esp. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Chief of Housing and Director of the Mayor's Office of Housing, Sheila Dillon, for the essential City of Boston funding of this programming! Thanks so much also to the Liberty Mutual Foundation for its very generous contributions to this program. We are grateful, as well, to all our other great supporters of this initiative, including: Mabel Louise Riley Foundation, United Way of Mass. Bay & Merrimack Valley, NeighborWorks America, NeighborShare, M & T Bank Foundation, Mifflin Memorial Fund, Webster Bank, and Santander N.A.

For more information on NOAH's Rental Homelessness Prevention Services, please contact Linda Foster at linda@noahcdc.org or call 617-418-8246

Financial Capability

NOAH offers free bilingual financial capability programming including individual coaching for those who need assistance with managing their finances. NOAH's Financial Capability initiative operates on an ongoing basis designed to give participants the knowledge, skills, and tools to feel confident in their financial decision-making skills. Make a plan to reach your financial goals, manage your spending and improve your credit! To learn more or sign up, please contact Thais Gandica, NOAH's Financial Services Counselor, at 617- 418-8263 or email thaisg@noahcdc.org

First-Time Homebuyers

NOAH's First-Time Homebuyers (FTHB) classes cover everything one might need to know about buying a first home, including addressing unique challenges presented by rising home costs and the current economy. NOAH annually offers 15 or more CHAPA-certified FTHB workshops as well as an on-demand online course – both in Spanish and in English. To view upcoming FTHB class dates and learn more about registering please scroll down to the 'Upcoming Events' section of our newsletter. If you would like to learn more, please contact Carolina Suarez at 617-418-8261 or suarez@noahcdc.org.

Foreclosure Prevention

NOAH's Foreclosure Prevention Program has a focus on assisting consumers who are in imminent default and in danger of losing their homes. The program offers homeowners help in understanding their options and determining the best and most affordable solutions based on their own personal financial situations. ​Our HUD-approved counselors meet with clients one-on-one to develop an action plan based on individual needs, create budgets, work to obtain loan modifications, and contact lenders to advocate for homeowners. All programming is offered in English and Spanish - with other languages also available with translation services - and is free of charge. If you or someone you know has received a petition for foreclosure, please contact Carlos Grajales-Thrall, NOAH's Foreclosure Prevention Counselor, at 617-418-8268 or cgrajalest@noahcdc.org.

NOAH’s bilingual homebuyer services remain accessible over Zoom, and the staffers continue to have various bilingual virtual speakers from financial institutions and other companies to provide expert advice to first-time homebuyer course attendees. If you have any questions about the Homebuyer Services Department programming, please contact Director Diana Franco at 617-418-8266 or dianaf@noahcdc.org.

Click Here to register for our next free, interactive workshop, Boost Your Score: Building Credit and Avoiding Fraud, and discover how to take control of your credit and protect your identity. Whether you're just getting started or looking to bounce back from past challenges, this session is for you.

SENIOR & DISABLED HOME REPAIR

NOAH’s Senior Repair Services has been helping vulnerable senior homeowners and residents remain safe and independent within their own homes for the past 37 years. We provide in-home counseling and directly perform free minor repairs, as well as facilitate no-cost rehabilitation projects and larger-scale emergency repair services, for some 65 income-eligible elderly and disabled homeowners each year. Long-term Program Manager, Anthony D'Andrea and Assistant Carpenter, Thomas Granara, together complete 350 repairs annually.

These are typically health- and safety-related services that make it possible for seniors living on fixed incomes to remain in their homes. Every job, regardless of size, is important to the elderly residents, who oftentimes have no other alternative. Free safety repairs include: installing bathroom grab-bars; replacing unsafe doors/locks, replacing broken windows, fixing leaks and faulty electrical switches/lights, patching roofs, replacing gutters/down spouts, and more.

Since 1987, NOAH has utilized this successful program to help over 4,000 elders remain safe by performing over 12,000 safety-related, emergency, and handicapped accessibility repairs. Please reach out to Anthony D'Andrea at 617-418-8265 for more information. We remain deeply grateful to the City of Boston Mayor's Office of Housing, the Boston Home Center Division, for their long-term support of this service line! Thank you, also, to Sailors Snug Harbor of Boston, the Charles F. Farnsworth Trust, the Bushrod H. Campbell & Adah F. Hall Charity Fund and the Harvard Memorial Church.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

NOAH's Property Management staff have been working hard to maintain and upgrade NOAH's properties and offices. NOAH owns 389 rental units & five commercial units in East Boston, Holliston, North Andover, Carlisle, Webster and Middleborough. Altogether, over 800 individuals reside in NOAH rental homes. If you have any questions, please contact propertymanagement@noahcdc.org.

Pictured to the right: Gladys Orellana Vega, Property Management Administrative Assistant.

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Aileron: Aileron is designed as a two-phase project located at 131-151 Condor Street in East Boston. Phase I consists of seven affordable, homeownership condos, with new owner move-in scheduled for June 2025. Mass Housing has invested additional capital with the City which enabled all of the units to be sold to first-time affordable homebuyers. The project received a Certificate of Occupancy on 5/30/25! The prolonged construction and inspection process on Aileron Phase I has cost NOAH time on the next phase of Aileron, the Artists' Rental. The rental Phase II is proposed to be 36 units of affordable, rental, artist-friendly housing. Before we can apply for funding with the State, it is critical that we redesign the project to meet the updated energy codes and green building requirements. We continue to work with the City of Boston and the Mayor’s Office of Housing to prepare this project for future funding rounds. NOAH is currently engaging with artist groups about programming for the ground level gallery space. For more information, please contact Annika Lambert, Real Estate Project Manager, at alambert@noahcdc.org.

EB Refi/PACO Properties: NOAH’s East Boston PACO Properties (55 units in 18 buildings) have been combined with our other East Boston affordable and workforce housing portfolio units (56 units in 17 buildings) to create a large single-entity rehab project. PACO was formed to tap into the City’s AOP anti-displacement program designed to protect Boston’s rental housing stock from high income, market and condo forces. AOP became a key NOAH priority, but at significant risk financially to NOAH itself. NOAH invested several million of our own capital to preserve these units. The City of Boston and the State now have each offered several million dollars to prevent a foreclosure by acquisition lenders, including Community Housing Capital, Blue Hub/LISC and Rockland Trust, which have been patiently waiting for the return of their $12M in capital. The buildings are located at various scattered sites throughout the neighborhood. Lenders are currently working out the complex details to refinance the mortgages with a closing expected in late spring of 2025. It's been a very long wait. We eagerly anticipate a final positive outcome! Please reach out to ED Phil Giffee for details at pgiffee@noahcdc.org.

NOAH's recently completed Union Block project in Downtown Taunton. This $28M development created 38-units of mixed-income rental housing above the nine existing small businesses, which remain owned by two long-time Taunton businesspeople.

Make the most your 2025 charitable donation with the impactful 50% Massachusetts Community Investment Tax Credit (CITC) program, which enables donors of $1,000 or more to double the power of their financial support!

Your donation will directly support us in enabling some of the area’s most vulnerable families and residents to obtain and retain safe and secure housing. Homelessness continues to be an exponentially growing problem which needs to be addressed desperately. The pandemic-era safety nets that kept many at-risk households afloat have ended, leaving an extreme need for affordable and emergency housing-related assistance, along with a tremendous gap in service delivery. Please help NOAH fill that gap by making a donation today.

If you choose to invest in our work, you can double your impact and get half of your entire donation back. Through CITC, even donors who do not have any tax liability are eligible to receive a 50% rebate; and donors who have a state tax liability can receive half of their donation to NOAH back in state tax credits. NOAH will reserve 50% tax credits for all donors of $1,000 or more, and will assist CITC donors in utilizing the fairly simple credit-claiming process.

CITC donations or contributions of any amount can be made by mailing a check to NOAH, 143 Border Street, East Boston, MA 02128 or online at NOAH's website www.noahcdc.org on the Donations page! Please reach out to Linda Foster if you have any questions re CITCs at lmillerfoster@noahcdc.org.

NOAH would like to say THANK YOU to all our wonderful recent funders their support:

AAFCPAs, Adrian Madaro Committee, Applied Materials Foundation & Employees via Blackbaud Giving Fund, Save the Harbor, Save the Bay (Better Beaches), Mr. & Mrs. David Blake, Blue Hub Capital, Bushrod Campbell & Adah Hall Charitable Fund, Mr. & Mrs. David Bryant, the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, Cambridge Savings Foundation, Charles H. Farnsworth-Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, Charlesbank Homes, Citizens Bank, the City of Boston, Edmund & Nina Coletta, John Connell, Susan Molloy Devins, Dimella Shaffer, Adam Dobson, Bob & Mirriam Dorfman, the East Boston Foundation, East Boston “K” Trust, Eastern Bank, English for New Bostonians, Rose Fiore, Philip & Marion Freehan, Hackett Feinberg P.C., Mossik Hacobian, Hancock United Church of Christ, HarborOne Bank, Harvard Memorial Church, Rick High & Anne Perkins, the City of Boston's Small Community Grants Trust Program (George O. Hovey), Joy Street Design, George & Carolyn Koehler, Susan Koffman & Tom Cooper, the Liberty Mutual Foundation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the M&T Charitable Foundation, Massachusetts Division of Banks, National Financial Services LLC, the Mifflin Memorial Fund, Needham Bank, NeighborShare, NeighborWorks America, O’Donoghue Insurance Agency, Pentecostal Tabernacle, Rockland Trust, Santander Bank N.A., Sailors’ Snug Harbor, Kristin & David Shapiro, Smolak & Vaughan LLP, Tufts University, United Way of Mass. Bay & Merrimack Valley, Webster Bank, Wood/Perry Family Trust, and an anonymous donor.

NOAH would also like to extend a special thank you to: Amelia Peabody Charitable Foundation, the Cambridge Savings Bank, and the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation for their generous awards; in addition to the Liberty Mutual Foundation for its impactful award to our affordable housing preservation service line; and to the City of Boston, for all of its wonderful ongoing support!

And, as always, a great big THANK YOU to our fantastic long-time funding partners NeighborWorks America and United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley!

With our generous supporters, we are able to continue to create and maintain more sustainable neighborhoods, community services and affordable housing opportunities than ever before.

If you would like to make a donation, please reach out to Linda Foster at linda@noahcdc.org or 617-418-8246, or donate online on noahcdc.org/donate! 

NOAH would additionally like to thank those who have joined us to volunteer! Volunteer opportunities range from long-term law school and college interns and AmeriCorps volunteers to half-day project volunteers, such as working in our youth-led community garden or performing maintenance upkeep at Trinity House for the formerly homeless in East Boston, as well as first-time homebuyer education and financial capability workshops, and working on work-force preparation skills. We thank you all!

Make a BIG impact even with a SMALL Donation!

Please consider making a secure tax-deductible donation to

NOAH today. To donate online CLICK HERE.   

Please consider making a donation to NOAH today! There is a mounting crisis in the area of housing and shelter in Greater Boston. Over our 37-year history we have never seen anything like it. The numbers of families reaching out for housing assistance continue to grow exponentially. NOAH helped 6,000 individuals from over 2,950 families in 2024. Of these, over 1,750 households were housing-related clients - and over half of them were children. Your financial support at any level at this time can make a major difference in the lives of local residents struggling to retain or obtain their homes. Since 1987, NOAH has created investments totaling $656.3 million in the Greater Boston regional economy. Please help now if you can.

UPCOMING FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER PROGRAMMING

Click Here to Register for an upcoming First-Time Homebuyer class or reach out to Carolina Suarez at 617-418-8261 for more information.

Upcoming Classes in English:

Tuesday, July 8 - 5:30 to 9:45pm (Part 1)

Wednesday, July 9 - 5:30 to 9:45pm (Part 2)

Tuesday, September 9 - 5:30 to 9:45pm (Part 1)

Wednesday, September 10 - 5:30 to 9:45pm (Part 2)

Próximas Clases en Español

Martes, 10 de Junio (Part I) 5:30pm - 9:45pm

Miércoles, 11 de Junio (Part II) 5:30pm - 9:45pm

Martes, 19 de Agosto (Part I) 5:30pm - 9:45pm

Miércoles, 20 de Agosto (Part II) 5:30pm - 9:45pm

Sábado, 13 de Septiembre (Part I) 9:00am - 1:30pm

Domingo, 14 de Septiembre (Part II) 9:00am - 1:30pm

UPCOMING FINANCIAL EDUCATION CLASSES

To learn more about an upcoming class or sign up for one-on-one financial coaching, please contact Thais Gandica, NOAH's Financial Services Counselor, at 617- 418-8263 or email thaisg@noahcdc.org

Boost Your Score: Building Credit & Avoiding Fraud

Tue, Jun 10, 6:00pm

UPCOMING COMMUNITY BUILDING & ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMMING

Please reach out to Manlio Mendez, NOAH Senior Community Organizer, at 617-418-8242 or mmendez@noahcdc.org for more information on all NOAH's upcoming East Boston CBE programs. Free

Children & Youth Soccer

July 09 to August 17 American Legion Field, East Boston

Free Learn to Kayak and Boating Safety July 11 to August 17 Constitution Beach, East Boston