Funding will benefit sober housing programs in eight communities across Massachusetts
BOSTON, MA – November 16, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — MassHousing has awarded $453,037 in financing to help create or preserve more than 100 units of affordable sober housing in eight communities across Massachusetts.
The MassHousing grants will come from the Center for Community Recovery Innovations, Inc. (CCRI), a nonprofit subsidiary corporation of MassHousing that creates and preserves affordable sober housing in Massachusetts for recovering substance abusers. CCRI to date has awarded more than $5 million in grants for more than 1,200 units of substance-free housing in more than two dozen communities for men, women, families, veterans, the homeless and ex-offenders.
“These latest grants from CCRI will help provide very important affordable sober housing in communities across Massachusetts,’’ said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. “The men and women who use this housing are on their way to overcoming addiction and returning as healthy, productive members of our Commonwealth.’’
Receiving grants in the latest round of CCRI funding are:
- Greater New Life Christian Center, Springfield, $75,000 to help create 18 new units of sober housing for women at the New Life Center for Recovery in Springfield. The housing will be created in a former property of the Diocese of Springfield and financing partners include the city of Springfield and Berkshire Bank.
- Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore, Quincy, $70,000 to help create 6 new units of sober housing for men and women at Holmes Court in North Quincy. Financing partners include Father Bills and Mainspring and the City of Quincy.
- Latin American Health Alliance of Central Mass., Worcester, $75,000 to help create 11 new units of sober housing for men at Casa de los Milagros in Worcester. Financing partners include Bay State Bank and private foundations.
- South Middlesex Opportunity Council, Hardwick, $35,037 to help create 11 units of sober housing for men and women in Hardwick. Financing also being provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.
- United Veterans of America, Soldier On, Pittsfield, $70,000 to help create 39 new units of sober housing for male veterans in Pittsfield. Financing partners include HUD, state Department of Housing and Community Development and Berkshire Bank.
- Graduate Residential Opportunity for Women, CASPAR, Inc., Somerville, $28,000 to help preserve eight units of affordable sober housing for women in Somerville with building improvements and repairs.
- YWCA of Southeastern, Mass., New Bedford, $75,000 to help create 11 new units of affordable sober housing for women at A Women’s Place Residency in New Bedford. Financing partners include the City of New Bedford, HUD, and multiple private foundations and individuals.
- Dismas House, Oakham, $25,000 in startup funding for a project director to manage a self-sustaining, working farm employing and providing sober housing for ex-offenders in Oakham.
About CCRI
The Center For Community Recovery Innovations, Inc., issues an annual Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit projects for funding. The proposals that are selected need to meet CCRI’s current priorities and eligibility categories. The grants are typically used as one-time gap funding for capital projects that increase or improve the stock of affordable sober housing in Massachusetts. Other proposals that provide services for residents in MassHousing-financed rental housing, specifically those that address alcohol and/or drug abuse or addiction, are also considered for funding.
About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $11 billion for affordable housing. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com.
Contacts
Eric Gedstad: 617.854.1079 | egedstad (at) masshousing (dot) com
Tom Farmer: 617.854.1843 | tfarmer (at) masshousing (dot) com
