NOAH's Foreclosure Prevention Counseling Team

Since October 2007, NOAH's bilingual foreclosure prevention counseling team has been hard at work saving the homes of thousands of families facing possible foreclosures due to illnesses, job losses or other unexpected personal financial emergencies. Our free education and counseling in English and Spanish has helped over 2,500 families in 95 area communities, most of whom are still in their homes today. One tool to help save a home from foreclosure is to apply for a mortgage modification. In the last four months, 56 NOAH clients received mortgage loan modifications that brought their monthly payments to an affordable level. Congratulations to our staff for their fine work.

Real Estate Update

Our $9M, 26-unit, senior development, Benfield Farms, is nearly complete. We expect occupancy to begin mid-winter. Dellbrook Construction has done a wonderful job turning Dimella Shaffer's plans into reality. This will be a beautiful structure on a gorgeous piece of property in a bucolic suburban setting in Carlisle. Peabody Properties is still accepting applications. Click here for more information. 

Toby Kramer, our Director of Real Estate Development, is working diligently to finalize the construction loan closing for our $20M, 66-unit senior rehab project of the historic Sitkowski School in Webster. It is nearly impossible to describe how difficult and challenging it is to assemble the financing to make affordable projects work! We thank all of our valued partners who will be mentioned again at the ground-breaking this winter. We also thank our friends and colleagues in the Town of Webster for hanging with us to make this worthwhile project succeed. It is not easy for Towns and their residents to wait so long for such highly visible and much anticipated developments to come on line. In addition to capital, much patience is required. We appreciate their personal and organizational investments.

We have begun to submit documents related to the filing of the official PNF (Project Notification Form) for Coppersmith Village in East Boston, our 71-unit, mixed-income, ownership and rental project. As the City processes our documents, it will set up local meetings. We then hope to secure BRA approval in the coming months. We also have filed a 113-unit mixed-income rental application with the City of Haverhill. The project, named Bradford Landing, sits on City-owned land across from the MBTA's Bradford commuter rail stop. The City issued an RFP last spring for this 4.8 acre site, which abuts the Merrimack River across from the revitalizing downtown of the old shoe city of Haverhill. Our project would provide access to the beautiful Merrimack River, extend the City's emerging Rail Trail and clean up a heavily weeded old industrial site formerly used as a shoe factory. We have additional multi-purpose, mixed-income revitalization projects pending, about which we hope to notify our readers in an upcoming newsletter.

We welcome two new members who joined the NOAH Board of Directors in 2013: Lauren DeMayo, CPA and Andrew DeStefano. Lauren works as an Audit Senior at Deloitte & Touche. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware Lerner School of Business & Economics and of Northeastern University's Graduate School of Business Administration. Andrew is the Field & Communication Coordinator at AFL-CIO. He is a recent graduate of Boston College. NOAH continues to look for new Board members who can bring special skills to complement the organization, including Spanish speakers and East Boston residents. If you or someone you know is interested in finding out more, please contact NOAH ED Phil Giffee at 617-418-8240.

It is with mixed feelings that we announce that we are both losing and gaining wonderful Community Building and Environment Directors here at NOAH. Current Director Kim Foltz is leaving us to take a position with the City's "Boston Bikes" program. Kim has been with NOAH for over three years, aptly overseeing our community organizing, ESOL, environmental, and children and youth programming. We will miss her and her great work. "It's been such a privilege to work on important issues in my own community," says Kim. "NOAH work touches many lives, and I've loved getting to know so many people who help make East Boston a great neighborhood. My passion for a strong and sustainable community continues, and I'm now changing hats from staff to volunteer. As I do so, I hope to see many of you around the neighborhood!"

Chris Marchi, life-long East Boston resident and long-term environmental activist, was promoted from NOAH Sustainability, Youth & Community Coordinator to new CBE Department Director. Chris attended the Mass. College of Art, and has worked in the past for Valdez Baseball Academy, Boston Natural Areas Network and the City of Boston. Earlier this year, he was presented the East Boston Times "Man of the Year" award for his community-related environmental achievements. A fun fact about Chris: he was a 1970's poster child in the past 'Eastie is Not an Airport' campaign, in which his mother and father, Roberta and Richard, were very active.  

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