October 21, 2003 - Homes for the Poorest     Much of the news about affordable housing is bad: There isn't enough supply. Rents and sale prices are high. Affordable units are scarce. The government helps, but there's never enough money to cover the need. Today there's good news. A group of foundations plans to raise $26 million to invest in creating 1,000 units of housing and leveraging 3,000 more over 10 years in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. Called Home Funders, the effort will target a great and unfilled need: homes for the poorest families, those whose incomes are 30 percent or less of area's median. Most of these households survive on less than $22,000 a year. To come up with enough financing, the foundations -- including the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, The Highland Street Connection, and the Hyams Foundation -- are dipping into their endowments mostly to finance very-low-interest loans of up to 3 percent for housing developers. The risk is that the loans won't be repaid and the foundations won't recover their money. The more considerable advantage is that the foundations can take a mighty stand without impinging on their other grant making. Home Funders brings others to the table, including city officials, businesses, and non-profit organizations. The work of selecting borrowers and managing loans is being done by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation. One example of a Home Funders project is Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation, which is using a loan to buy land in Roxbury and build 45 to 55 apartments and eight homes. Sixteen apartments will be for those earning 30 percent of median income or less. For these the rents will be around $550. The inexpensive loan lets Nuestra buy the land while it's available, then take time to develop the project and refinance when construction begins. When Nuestra pays back the loan, the money will be loaned to another developer. Another example is Cape Ann Housing Opportunity, an organization that's turning a 21-acre industrial site in Gloucester into mixed-income affordable housing with a day care center and community meeting space. There will be 76 homes and 39 rental units, eight for those who earn less than 30 percent of the area's median income. Home Funders is impressive for several reasons. It does not slap the label ''affordable'' on homes that are, in fact, far beyond the reach of the lowest-income earners. And it lets developers use the money in different ways, serving as a magnet to attract other funding. Home Funders has its official launch today at a ceremony hosted by Mayor Menino in City Hall. This sweeping effort could energize the culture of building affordable housing, sparking new energy, innovation, and good examples of how to put housing within everyone's reach. Back to Press Archives Page