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Reebok Chief Executive Paul
Fireman and other members of Boston's elite will unveil plans today
for a $26 million fund to finance housing for the state's poorest
of the poor.
Fireman, whose foundation is donating $5 million, will help launch
the "Home Funders" program in a City Hall ceremony.
"We think building affordable homes for families is certainly one
of the key ways to solve homelessness," said Fireman's son, Dan,
who oversees the foundation's affordable-housing efforts.
Other donations include $150,000 from Fidelity Vice Chairman Peter
Lynch and $5 million from the foundation of David McGrath Jr., late
founder of temporary-staffing giant TAD Resources International Inc.
The project will offer loans to both non-profit and for-profit developers
to build housing for families with $22,000 or less in household income.
Dan Fireman said the effort aims to particularly help those who
make just above the government's $15,500 poverty line.
"As you're working and your income goes up, government subsidies
disappear," he said. "So you could be making $22,000 and actually
wind up with less money then when you were on welfare."
Home Funders plans to finance 1,000 new housing units over the
next decade, with 75 percent located in the Boston area and the
rest elsewhere in Massachusetts.
The $26 million includes money already earmarked toward 11 affordable
housing projects.
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