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Winter 2014 Newsletter 

Housing funders & Town officials
Sitkowski School Groundbreaking in Webster

NOAH's Real Estate team and the Town of Webster hosted a wonderful Ground Breaking Ceremony in February for 200 people in the Town Hall auditorium; be sure to check out the event slide show at  www.noahcdc.org.  In 2009, NOAH was selected by the Town of Webster to reinvent the historic Sitkowski School into 66 units of affordable senior housing and a spacious, 9,000 square foot, Community/Senior Center. The rehabilitation will be a substantial renovation of a locally prominent, decommissioned school. Historic elements such as the original oak woodwork will be preserved where feasible, and the slender original wood floors will be repaired and restored.  Common amenities include lounges on each floor and a central laundry. The bi-level Community/Senior Center will include a large multi-purpose room with kitchen, a reading room, conference room and offices, an art space, an exercise room, a health office and a salon. NOAH is very proud to have been selected by the Town to recreate this 88,000 square foot, $20 million asset, which is key to their dynamic downtown revitalization. 

Benfield Farms in Carlisle Completed!

Benfield Farms has received a Certificate of Occupancy and residents started moving in as of March 1st. A Ribbon Cutting is planned for early May. The $9M development has created 26 units of affordable housing. It is located on 45 acres of land purchased by the Town with CPA funds for housing, recreation, conservation land, and trails. Applications for units are still being accepted. Click here for more information. Kudos to Toby Kramer, NOAH Director of Real Estate, and to the entire team, for completing this first-of-a-kind friendly 40b housing in Carlisle.

Shoe Shop Place in Middleboro

NOAH is proud to be partnering with The Neighborhood Corporation (TNC), a CDC in Taunton, to redevelop a historic shoe mill at 151 Peirce Street in Middleboro.
The rehab will result in 24 units of family housing. The project has a 40b Comprehensive Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, and has received funding and approvals from the Mass Historic Commission and the National Park Service. TNC has been through four funding rounds with DHCD for LIHTC and other funds and is making their fifth application with NOAH as a partner and guarantor.  As a team, we hope to receive the funding approval this summer so that construction can begin in 2014. We thank TNC for selecting us as their partner. 
 

Thank You to Our Funders!

 

All of us at NOAH want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to our recent funders, including: Century 21 Mario Real Estate, the City of Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Private Bank, Danilchuck Auto Body, the Danversbank Charitable Foundation, East Boston Foundation, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, East Boston Savings Bank Foundation, Greg Comeau, Jean Staropoli, Lawrence Bramen, the Mass. Attorney General's Office, Mary Ellen Welch, Michael & Beth Fiore, Rose Fiore, State Street Foundation, and William Bacic, CEO of Deloitte. We also want to add a special 'Thank You' to Neighborworks America and to Congress for our recent Organizational Underwriting and RED Capital awards. Without our wonderful supporters, we could not maintain our client services or programs at their current levels. With them, we continue to create and maintain more sustainable neighborhoods and affordable housing than ever before!

       

 
Manlio Mendez, Jacky Lara, Nancy Schumann & friends
NOAH's 26th Annual Dinner

We held our Annual Meeting & Holiday Dinner in December at Spinelli's in East Boston with 180 stakeholders, staff, clients, volunteers and other friends in attendance. The keynote address was
given by Sheila Dillon, City of Boston Chief of Housing & Director of Neighborhood Development. Board elections were held.
A drawing was held to determine the 10 winners of the East Boston Economic Development Survey respondent raffle.  Special recognition was given to volunteer Nancy Schumann, who has been ably assisting in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program.   

Aaron Gornstein, Undersecretary DHCD, at CITC announcement in Worester
NOAH Receives $260k CITC Allocation 

NOAH is very grateful to have been awarded a total of $260,000 in Community Investment Tax Credits by the State for a two-year period. The 2014 allocation is $110,000; and the 2015 allocation $150,000. NOAH was one of 36 CDC's across the state to be awarded this funding, which represents a 50% tax credit designed to attract financial supporters of over $1,000 each.  Individuals and corporations can participate. Any excess state tax is refundable. Donations are also eligible for the federal charitable tax deduction. For instance: If a 35% tax-bracket CITC donor were to give NOAH $1,000, they'd receive a state tax credit of $500 and a possible federal tax deduction of $175, for a total out-of-pocket donation of only $325. We are so very thankful to all those who helped design and implement this new CDC funding program, including everyone at MACDC, United Way and DHCD. If you are able to provide a donation to NOAH of $1,000 or more, we would be very appreciative! Please click here to contact us. 
 
Obtaining Community Feedback...

NOAH conducted a number of surveys in 2013 to obtain important resident, client and community feedback. One of these was an East Boston Economic Development Survey, which was taken by over 240 Eastie residents. A main issue respondents indicated was a priority for them was for 'more housing for working families and others of modest means'.  Seventy-six percent of respondents were concerned about 'gentrification', or the process of being priced out of the neighborhood for themselves or their friends or family. And, when asked what income-levels NOAH should target for new housing, 59% chose the lowest income range option, of $30,000 to $60,000. If you'd like to see the survey results, click here to check out our website.  
 
CCAG Youth Leadership Development
Hard at Work Tackling Trash!  
East Boston Times feature on the youth trash campaign

The Chelsea Creek Action Group (CCAG) Youth continue to amaze us with their drive, enthusiasm and output!  One recent project they have added to their workload is the challenge of tackling trash within the neighborhoods of East Boston. Under CBE Director Chris Marchi's lead, they have surveyed residents and stakeholders, and performed an in-depth 'trash composition' analysis research project. The results of their analysis so far indicate that adults are the main 'litter' culprits; and they have been able to note where additional trash receptacles could be of most benefit.

Research is something that NOAH's CBE Dept. is building into its initiatives. Over the past several months, not only on the litter project, but also on a series of others, the CCAG Youth have been training to work with the public - to generate awareness and to execute polls and other surveys around specific topics. The overall design includes identifying community-related problems, researching these, sharing this information with the public and stakeholders while obtaining additional feedback, and including this commentary in proposals for community-based solutions. For their anti-litter campaign, the youth are building a coalition of community organizations to work in partnership with the City's Inspectional Services Dept., all with a view to improving the community of East Boston.

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Events Calendar Pages

Upcoming Events      

 
First-Time Homebuyer Classes
The next Spanish First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on Saturday, March 8, and Saturday, March 15, from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, at NOAH. The next available English First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on Saturday, April 5, and Saturday, April 12, from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM at NOAH. To receive a City of Boston certificate, attendees must be present at all class sessions. Students learn from industry guest speakers, including home inspectors, as well as from NOAH staff, about how best to purchase a home and about appropriate loan products. The cost for the group course is $35 per individual or $45 per couple (registering together). Also, we now are offering individual online course sessions. For more information, please call Christinne Flores at 617-418-8263.
   

Loan Modification/Foreclosure Prevention Clinics

Our next bilingual Loan Modification/Foreclosure Prevention clinics will occur on the following Monday evenings: March 10, 17, 24 and 31 and April 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 5:30 to 8 PM at NOAH. These workshops are the initial counseling and education sessions for NOAH's foreclosure prevention and mitigation counseling. The sessions are held in Spanish and in English. All of NOAH's foreclosure prevention education and counseling sessions are free of charge. Workshops are held weekly, except for holiday weeks. For additional information, please contact Christinne Flores at 617-418-8263.  
 
 
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You can find out further  information about NOAH on our web site at www.noahcdc.org.    


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