WESTFIELD – The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) announced this week that it has awarded more than $1.7 million in loans intended for development and preservation of affordable housing around the Commonwealth.
The project includes $740,000 for organizations who are planning new developments, including Boston’s Asian Community Development Corporation, Inc.; Lowell’s Coalition for a Better Acre; Worcester Community Housing Resources, Inc.; Springfield’s HAP, Inc.; Pittsfield’s Berkshire Housing Development Corporation (BHDC); and Westfield’s DOMUS, Inc.
CEDAC awarded Domus, Inc., the largest chunk of the funding, totaling $273,294.
DOMUS, Inc. of School Street received its CEDAC loan for $189,644 to finance its “Our House” project.
The funds will enable the organization to purchase and begin renovations to a vacant two-story historic city building that Executive Director Ann Lentini hopes will provide housing for homeless teens in the city.
Lentini says that at any one time up to 30 high school age youths in the city are homeless, which is a number that is far too high for her liking.
“It’s a good start,” said Lentini of the CEDAC loan. “(Our House) will provide a stable environment for students with live-in staff. Students will have individual apartments, not unlike our Meadows apartments.”
The organization received an additional $83,650 in funding for technical and pre-development services, including consultants, architects, and surveyors.
“‘Our House’ will include a living space, a computer area where students can hook devices up, and a laundry facility, as well as a conference room where students can visit counselors,” Lentini said.
She also added that residents of the facility will be able to live in “Our House” for several years after graduation.
“The state sets the age limits between 17 and 25,” Lentini said. “Most will go on to proceed to school and jobs before that, though.”
House rules and regulations will be put in place and enforced by the live-in “Our House” staff, as will security systems that Lentini oversees herself.
“Nobody wants it to feel like an open environment,” she said. “Everyone wants to feel secure.”
DOMUS has also partnered with Westfield’s Carson Center for Human Services, an affiliate of the Valley Human Services, to “provide the residents with psychiatric counseling and other mental health support.”
“Homelessness among teens is a high agenda statewide,” said Lentini. “The state has seen that we have done a high quality job with housing people with disabilities, as well as the low to medium income homeless. They know we do a good job of building and overseeing. But this is the first time Westfield has applied for (funding) for this population (homeless teens).”
“Thanks to the hard work of organizations like the BHDC, DOMUS, and HAP, Inc, we are seeing significant increases in the number of units throughout estern Massachusetts, as well as projects that offer additional supportive services as with the Our House project,” said Roger Herzog, executive director of the CEDAC. “CEDAC is proud to support these groups, and more specifically these projects, because of the important role they play in providing families and individuals in need with quality living space.”
But to Lentini, the work is far from done.
“In Westfield, we only have 6.7 percent affordable housing… our goal is ten percent.” she said. “And we’re working hand-in-hand with the city to achieve that goal.”
