Dear Friends,
April brings to a close one of the most successful partnerships I’ve ever experienced between a city and nonprofit organizations. Starting last November, when we saw what a harsh winter we were facing, WCHR began working with the City of Worcester and South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) to turn our property at 50 Oriol Drive into an overflow shelter.
Our friend Tim Garvin, President and CEO at United Way of Central Massachusetts, kindly commented: “It deserves celebration when this kind of partnership is done right, and we need to say thank you to everyone at WCHR and SMOC for creating a model of what real community is. It was a partnership with our city, with other social service agencies, with the neighborhood, and with our most vulnerable neighbors—all to ensure that people were cared for and got through the winter.”
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I hope you will read on for more about this important accomplishment and our other news.
Best regards,
N. Paul TonThat
Executive Director
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Winter Shelter Success at Oriol Drive
This winter, WCHR's 50 Oriol Drive property operated as a 36‑bed overflow shelter, providing 24‑hour staffing, security, and wraparound services in partnership with the South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC). Thanks to the efficiency and responsiveness of this partnership between the City of Worcester, SMOC, and WCHR, each of the 36 beds was filled every night from December through April, ensuring these residents were safe from some of the worst winter weather in decades and receiving intensive case management.
At the same time, long‑term redevelopment plans for Oriol Drive are moving forward, with a goal of creating 90 affordable housing units: 40 units of permanent supportive housing for individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness and 50 units dedicated to our low-income neighbors age 55 and above.
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2025 Annual Report
This past year, WCHR built our capacity and strengthened our commitment to addressing acute housing needs across the region. Our 2025 Annual Report covers our merger with East Side CDC, our selection by the Attorney General’s Office to administer the $2 million REACH fund, which finances the rehabilitation of distressed and abandoned properties, and more. Click here to read the report, and thank you for your support, which makes it all possible.
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Celebrating Anniversaries
This year, we’re proud to recognize three of our longtime team members who have been with WCHR since the early 2000s. Congratulations on these milestones, Jim, Andy, and Jini! We hope you look back on your work with as much pride as the rest of us do! And now, a few words from our friends:
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Jim Hayes, 20 years
Board Chair
My favorite memory is seeing the renovation and opening of the building that houses the Ascentria's Teen Parenting Program and knowing those mothers and children will have a safe place to live and play. WCHR and I remain steadfast in our commitment to building a stronger, more equitable Worcester County—one home, one family, and one neighborhood at a time.
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Jini Henderson, 25 years
Property Manager
I started as the office manager, and WCHR was relatively small, though our Board was large and engaging. When our tenants would come to the office to pay rent, it was like family dropping in for coffee. Now, knowing many of those people for so long is a joy and an asset.
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Andy Howarth, 25 years
Director of Development
I remember once we had to start eviction proceedings against a resident for behavioral issues. But after much discussion, we agreed to give her a second chance. A little over a year later, she showed up at our door, having turned her life around, achieved sobriety, gotten a job, and regained custody of her child. She had taken a bus from an outlying town just to come express her thanks to Jini and me.
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Welcoming New Team Members
Since last fall, we’ve been fortunate to hire four new staff members to help manage the REACH fund and our properties and resident services. We hope you get to meet them soon (but not the monkey, sorry). We asked each for a few words about their work, below.
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Benjamin Coy
Director of the WCHR CDFI Fund
I joined WCHR to do work that will impact the community that I live and work in, and the REACH Program will enable WCHR to do that across the entire state of Massachusetts.
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Maureen Flynn
Special Projects Manager
I really enjoy repairing and rehabbing vacant and abandoned properties so that they can be transformed and brought back to life for their communities.
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Shaperai Osmanzai
Resident Service Coordinator
Every morning when I arrive at the office, I promise to bring smiles to the faces of our residents, particularly the folks who are socially disconnected, who experience many types of traumas, and who live independently. I feel good when I help them and they can sense that I care.
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Noah Schurr
Jr. Project Manager, Real Estate Housing Development
I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet and learn from a wide array of people with an incredible amount of experience and expertise, while serving a wonderful community that has welcomed me in.
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Support Our Work
For more than 30 years, WCHR has championed neighborhood revitalization in Worcester County, preserving and creating affordable housing opportunities for neighbors in need. With funding under attack, we need your support now more than ever. Your donation today will allow us to continue our work and protect the future of our community. Thank you for your generosity! Click here to give.
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