December 2014 Newsletter

East Boston Flood Map Projection

NOAH's Annual Dinner:
Climate Change & Sea Level Rise
Please join us for our 27th Annual Dinner which is being held on Thursday, December 18th, at 6 PM, at Spinelli's in East Boston. Click here to register!

We hope you can join us for a great meal and a fabulous program! Our keynote speaker will be Brian Swett, the City of Boston's Chief of Energy and Environment. Brian will help us focus on the challenge of Climate Change and its effects on the City, particularly East Boston, which is so vulnerable to continuing sea-level rise. The Urban Land Institute Boston/New England (ULI) will also assist in the presentation. ULI recently issued a substantial report - 'Living with Water' - which graphically shows the effect of sea-level rise in Boston. Climate Change is an issue which affects all of us, no matter our income, gender, age, language, or country of origin. Every community needs to work on these challenging issues. Fortunately, there are things we can all begin to work on to adapt our lives to Climate Change, as well as to mitigate the withering effects of heat and cold, and the damages of sea-level-rise, especially during large storms. NOAH itself is developing 71-units of mixed-income housing in East Boston. We will be building the structures four feet above the ground and putting all the mechanical systems on the upper floors. The buildings will be LEED certified and energy efficient.

NOAH Climate Change Meeting

Two Major Awards to Support Community Building & Environment!

NOAH has just been awarded a significant 'Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity Initiative' grant from The Kresge Foundation. This was one of 17 $100,000 awards nationwide to community-based non-profits to work on climate-resilience planning, policy development and implementation efforts. NOAH staff will work in partnership with the City of Boston, the Urban Land Institute Boston/NE, Maverick Landing Community Services, Dr. Paul Kirshen of UNH, Mass. agencies, community groups and residents on climate change preparedness so that East Boston's future can be preserved and strengthened.

NOAH was also granted $39,000 by the Boston Alliance for Community Health (BACH) to implement a 'placemaking for public health' campaign targeting public spaces. We thank MAPC (Metropolitan Area Planning Council) for recommending this initiative to NOAH and for being our partner. Both projects will utilize our inclusive, systematic process for civic engagement of residents. We are so very grateful to both of these wonderful organizations for their belief in NOAH's Community Building & Environment programming.

We're Still Looking for Donors Interested in More Than Doubling their Dollars...
Doubling their charitable dollars, that is! NOAH has been awarded a total of $260,000 in Community Investment Tax Credits (CITC's) by the State for a two-year period. The 2014 allocation is $110,000; and the 2015 allocation $150,000. The award is 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 in the form of a credit, and out of state donors can participate.

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.

Here are a few words from our most recent CITC donor, John Barresi of 21st Century Construction: "I've known NOAH for 20 years through our construction business, and I made a modest donation to them for the holidays. Then, I doubled it when I found out I could actually get half of it back at no cost to me! So, we both win. I urge more people to take a look at the Community Investment Tax Credit. It can really help the organization, and it did not hurt my cash flow. If you are making a donation anyway, try it! If you were not planning on making a donation, I hope you go ahead and make one."

If you are able to provide a donation to NOAH of $1,000 or more, we would be very grateful. Also, if you have already donated $500 or more to NOAH in 2014, you could potentially donate that same amount again before the end of the year and get it all back as a credit or rebate! Please click here to contact us or click here to open our CITC brochure with more information. Or, click here to go to directly to our donation page. These credits are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

EHAP Counselor Natasha Sierra

New City of Boston DND
Emergency Housing Assistance Program
NOAH has been awarded a new contract by the City of Boston DND to perform Emergency Housing Assistance Program (EHAP) activities. The primary clientele to be served are displaced City residents who are victims of crisis, typically due to a major fire or building collapse or condemnation. In addition to working with emergency cases, we will also continue to provide case management and housing search and placement services to additional Boston residents in need of rental housing-related services. Unfortunately, we have already responded to three major fires and one condemnation in East Boston, as well as two large fires elsewhere in the City, resulting in 144 persons displaced from their homes just through six emergencies. If you know of any Boston landlords that we could add to our database, please refer them to Natasha. We would be grateful, and so would the displaced families in need!

A new component of this contract is our ability to award small grants of up to $1,800 to emergency case/fire victim clients to help them settle into a new rental home, based on need. Many thanks to the City of Boston, Martin J. Walsh, Mayor and to its Department of Neighborhood Development, Sheila Dillon, Director! If you know of anyone needing assistance, please refer them to NOAH counselor Natasha Sierra at 617-567-5882 or nsierra@noahcdc.org.

Kudos Again to the NOAH Youth!

They were featured in articles in the 'East Boston Times' for their recent late night airport noise surveying of 445 area residents. The Youth found significant sleep interruption in flight path areas, especially in East Boston's Eagle Hill and Star of the Sea neighborhoods. They created a 'Sleep Interruption Map' demonstrating their findings. Oscar Garcia, Billy Avalos, Claire Ohman, Denise Lewis, Michael Pasariello and Stephan Marin of the Youth Crew were involved with this project, as was AmeriCorps volunteer Magdalena Ayed and NOAH Director of CBE Chris Marchi, who led the Youth in their work. They noted that long-term sleep fragmentation poses a serious health risk; and that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) could abate late night flight noise by readopting a 'Head to Head' procedure, flying over the water for take-offs and landings. After presentations of the NOAH Youth Study results and meetings with residents and elected officials, MassPort is looking to cut down on nighttime noise pollution from Logan Airport. The Youth have continued to follow up on this project by sending a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta asking for the reinstatement of Head to Head operations.

Benfield Farms in Carlisle

Real Estate Update
Benfield Farms in Carlisle is now fully occupied. This LEED for Homes Gold accredited project created 26 affordable housing units. We remain very grateful to all our project partners, including DHCD, MassHousing, Mass Housing Partnership, CEDAC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Town of Carlisle, Dellbrook Construction, Peabody Properties, DiMella Shaffer, and more.

NOAH is now focusing its real estate development efforts on its other pipeline projects, including Shoe Shop Place in Middleborough (along with project partner The Neighborhood Corporation), Coppersmith Village in East Boston, and the Sitkowski School in Webster. NOAH was selected by the Town of Webster to rehabilitate an 85,000 square foot decommissioned historic school into 66 units of affordable housing. The old gymnasium is being converted into the new location for the Senior Center. The project is about 75% complete; and marketing has begun for prospective tenants. Completion is expected by the end of the winter.

Another Family Home Saved from Foreclosure!

Michael and Danielle* came to NOAH in July this year after having worked with no success with several other agencies to try to save their home. They were in the foreclosure process and were losing hope of saving the home where they were raising their seven-year-old nephew. Michael and Danielle fell behind on the mortgage when she was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer and was no longer able to work. NOAH's dedicated counseling staff worked on their behalf to secure a loan modification, saving their home from foreclosure one week before the scheduled auction date. Michael and Danielle and their family will now be able to remain in their home due to a monthly payment that was reduced by $600. Additionally, Michael and Danielle have graduated from NOAH's Financial Capability programming, and, with the knowledge they gained in the course, they were able to take immediate action to change their spending plan, saving an additional $2,300 annually. Now that Danielle is in remission and the family home has been saved, Michael and Danielle are looking forward to the future. This is just one of many of NOAH's successful case stories. Our foreclosure prevention and mitigation counselors have worked with over 3,150 households in the last seven years, with an 88% long-term positive resolution ratio. Many thanks to Department Director Diana Franco and all the counselors! *Names have been changed to protect our clients' privacy.

Thank You Very Much to Our Funders!

All of us at NOAH want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to our recent funders, including: 21st Century Construction, Bank of America - Merrill Lynch, the Boston Alliance for Community Health (BACH), Boston Private Bank, Greg Comeau, Virginia Connell, the City of Boston, the East Boston Savings Bank Foundation, the Charles H. Farnsworth Trust - Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, the Kresge Foundation, NeighborWorks America, State Street Bank Foundation, United Way of Mass. Bay & Merrimack Valley and the Wells Fargo Foundation. Without our wonderful supporters, we could not maintain our client services or programs at their current high levels. With them, we continue to create and maintain more sustainable neighborhoods, community services and affordable housing than ever before. We are grateful.

Please 'Like' Us on Facebook!

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! We are up to 2,514 Likes, but would like (pun intended!) to grow this to 2,600 by the end of the year.

Upcoming Events

27th Annual Dinner

NOAH's Annual Dinner is being held on Thursday, December 18 at
6 PM at Spinelli's in East Boston. Our keynote speaker will be Brian Swett, City of Boston Chief of Energy & Environment, who will address issues related to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise. Dinner will include roast beef, chicken and a penne pasta vegetarian option, with 'Death By Chocolate' cake for dessert. Click here to register. Please contact Linda Miller-Foster at 617-418-8246 for additional information.

First-Time Homebuyer Classes

The next available English First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on Saturday, January 24 & Saturday, January 31 from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM at NOAH. The next Spanish First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on Saturday, February 7 & Saturday, February 14 from 9:30 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 select and purchase a home and about appropriate loan products. The cost for the group course is $45 per individual or $55 per couple (registering together). Also, now we are offering individual online course sessions in both English & Spanish. 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: December 8, 15 & 22 and January 5, 12 & 26 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.

Make a BIG impact with a SMALL Donation!

Please consider making a secure tax deductible donation to
NOAH today. To donate online, CLICK HERE.

Thank you for your interest in NOAH!

You can find out further information about NOAH on our web site at www.noahcdc.org.