NOAH to Hold Waterfront Gala Event this June

We are proud to announce that Department of Community and Housing Development (DHCD) housing subsidies were awarded to finance NOAH's Sitkowski School project in Webster Massachusetts!  The $1,275,361 in federal and state Low Income Housing Tax Credits and $2,715,000 in DHCD housing subsidies will help us develop senior housing. This $19.5 million project is expected to create 125 jobs and will convert the historic A.J. Sitkowski School into 66 affordable units of housing and a new senior/community center. Construction will begin this autumn. We are grateful to be working with a terrific partner, the Town of Webster. The Sitkowski project is a central piece of their downtown renewal efforts.  

The 26-unit Benfield Farms senior housing development in Carlisle will start construction on April 1st. Financing agreements with town and state agencies will be finalized by then. A Groundbreaking event is scheduled for May 6 at 10 AM with Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and other State and Town officials. This project has been awarded a significant amount of CPA funds by the townspeople of Carlisle, who are anxious to build affordable housing. We are so pleased that this development, which has been a long time coming, is nearing construction. Many, many thanks to all our community partners in Carlisle and in Webster and to all our funding partners on these two projects, including DHCD, for their wonderful support.    

Welcome Jaselia Gratini!  

Next time you are at NOAH, please say 'Hi' to our newest staff member, Jaselia Gratini, who has joined us as our new Rental Housing Advocate & Property Management Coordinator. Visitors will be greeted at the front desk by her welcoming smile and helpful attitude. Jaselia is an honors student at Bunker Hill Community College, which she attends part-time. She has worked at Centro Presente as the Adult Education Coordinator; and, before that, had a career in early childhood education. She has volunteered extensively at the Student Immigration Movement and Ministrio MIES and elsewhere. Welcome, Jaselia!  

NOAH's CBE team continues to work with allies in Chelsea and Revere to challenge Global Oil's proposal to import ethanol by train into its facility on the Chelsea Creek. Ethanol is a highly flammable, colorless liquid that burns at extremely high temperatures and requires specialized equipment and training to extinguish. Global is proposing to bring two trains per week, each carrying nearly two million gallons of ethanol into its facility in Revere. Examples of accidents of ethanol-carrying trains abound.  One recent derailment in Ohio caused a explosion that required a one-mile evacuation around the site, and as one resident described "looked like the sun exploded". In a densely populated community like Chelsea, East Boston, or Revere, such an accident could be devastating.   

Over the last two months, we have been working closely with MassDOT, which was mandated by the State Legislature to conduct a public safety study of transporting ethanol by rail through densely populated communities. In February, NOAH staff organized a community meeting at the East Boston High School for MassDOT to present the progress on their study. Over 75 people attended and took part in a lively exchange of comments and ideas with the MassDOT representative. Last week, we held a strategy session with the staff of key allies in the Statehouse (including Speaker DeLeo, Senator Petruccelli and Representative Basile) to brainstorm potential state legislative options to ensure residents' safety. Later, we will be meeting with the EPA to pursue possible federal avenues to stop the ethanol trains.    

All of us at NOAH want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to our recent funders: AARP Foundation, NeighborWorks America, BJ's Foundation, Boston Private Bank, the Burgess Urban Fund, the Campbell and Hall Charity Fund, the CHT Foundation, Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, Mass. Mortgage Bankers Foundation, People's United Bank Foundation and Sailor's Snug Harbor.       

If you haven't done so already, we would very much appreciate it if you would go to our Facebook page through the link below, and click the "Like" button - thanks!   

Upcoming Events