Funding will help Community Development Corporations and their partners build stronger communities and create opportunities for their residents
BOSTON, MA – June 20, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — MassHousing has awarded $75,000 to the Mel King Institute for Community Building, which will help Community Development Corporations and their partners build and preserve affordable housing, create jobs and foster opportunities for Massachusetts residents.
To date, MassHousing has provided $225,000 in funding to the Mel King Institute, which mentors community development professionals and volunteers to be effective in creating vibrant and thriving communities.
“Mel King was a visionary in founding the Community Development Movement in Massachusetts and the enormous benefits created by the Mel King Institute are felt every day in neighborhoods across the Commonwealth,” said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. “Community Development Corporations play a vital role in providing affordable housing and opportunities for low and moderate income residents and MassHousing is pleased to provide funding for this very important mission.”
The Mel King Institute sponsors trainings for Community Development professionals, serves as a clearinghouse for CDCs to pursue programs and projects and form strategic partnerships, and provides technical assistance and leverages the resources of many institutions.
“MassHousing’s support of the Mel King Institute is helping to build a strong community development field, which in turn will build stronger communities and a stronger Commonwealth,” said Joe Kriesberg, President of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. “MassHousing and its Board of Directors are showing true leadership and vision by investing in a long term and comprehensive approach to building and sustaining high quality homes and communities for the people of the Commonwealth.”
About MassHousing
Celebrating its 45th anniversary, 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 $13 billion for affordable housing. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com, follow us on Twitter @MassHousing, subscribe to our blog and Like us on Facebook.
Contacts
Eric Gedstad: 617.854.1079 | egedstad (at) masshousing (dot) com
Tom Farmer: 617.854.1843 | tfarmer (at) masshousing (dot) com
