001So, welcome and thank you for joining us for a community conversation on housing. I'm Caitlyn Briggerabedian, the state representative for the 32nd Middle Sex District, which includes Melrose, Wakefield, and Malden. In this role, I work with my district's housing authorities, city and town planners, housing advocates, and relevant executive branch agencies. I also support constituents dealing with housing insecurity. Tonight's event will provide an opportunity for us to hear from housing experts and advocates on housing challenges in the Commonwealth, existing programs and resources, and the necessary policies to create a more sustainable, affordable Commonwealth. I'm pleased to host the community conversations series to bring together a diverse group of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. With that, I'm excited to review our time together. After I briefly introduce our esteemed panelists, we'll hear from Taylor Shut
002at Housing Families about individuals the organization has served and from a first-time home buyer who was supported in the process by a local housing counseling organization. I'll then set the context for our panel discussion before turning to the panelists for their remarks. Thereafter, we'll address questions submitted in advance by attendees and then close with further resources for learning. I'm so very grateful to be joined this evening by a panel of esteemed experts and advocates in the housing and development community. Eric Schupin is the executive office of housing and livable communities chief of policy. Before joining the executive office, he served as the director of public policy at the citizens housing and planning association. In his professional roles, Eric has worked to promote affordable housing, community development, and homelessness prevention. Deborah Burke is the director of
003the city of Malden's strategic planning and community development office. Formerly serving as the Malden redevelopment director, Debbie has played an integral role in housing operations, community planning and development, transportation development, and affordability of housing within within Malden. Abby Curvey is the deputy director of public policy at the Citizens Housing and Planning Association. Her work emphasizes the intersectionality of housing, health, economic mobility, and nutrition. She's a longtime advocate and proponent of sustainable, affordable housing. Elliot Schmeidle serves as the director for the home ownership division of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. He has over 12 years of experience in advancing home ownership, homelessness prevention, and foreclosure prevention. Actually, we just talked about this over 15 years. Felicia Marshall is the director of housing supports at Metro Housing Boston. She previously worked for the department of housing and community
004development as the director of contracts and compliance and the director of hotel motel field operations and at housing families as the director of housing based services. Thank you all for being here. I'm really looking forward to your remarks. I'm pleased now to turn to remarks provided by Taylor Shut from housing families to humanize the policy discussion that will follow reinforcing the strength and resilience of individuals and particularly renters seeking housing stability. Housing Families based in Malden serves families and individuals in the 32nd Middle Sex District and greater Boston area. The legislative delegation has been pleased over the years to support housing families with state funding. Most recently, for example, a $100,000 earmark in the fiscal year 24 budget. Housing family services include emergency shelter placement, permanent supportive housing, housing case management, counseling, food assistance, and
005legal assistance. Its work is incredibly important in ensuring that the needs and supports of clients are being met while maintaining their dignity. >> Hi, my name is Taylor Shen. I'm a staff attorney at Housing Families. I provide free eviction defense and other housing related legal services, meaning my clients are often from our most vulnerable communities. We all know the pandemic caused catastrophic wage losses for millions. Meanwhile, rent prices in Massachusetts have skyrocketed, leaving many unable to pay rent, especially among already vulnerable populations. Tenants with limited English skills are especially vulnerable. They struggle to understand court processes and to access resources like rental assistance or legal services. For many, they can't read notices that are sent only in English, including court documents telling them about their eviction cases. If they don't understand the court notice, then
006they miss court and a default judgment gives the landlord permission to evict them. I recently helped a tenant avoid being evicted for non-payment who had poor conditions in her apartment. It's been a long and painful process for her because she's deaf. That means English is her second language and she struggles with reading as a result. When she couldn't pay her rent because she had to replace food and household items that were damaged by leaks and infestation, an eviction was started. It took months to get her housing stabilized and that stability is tenuous at best. The landlord waved some of her unpaid rent, but she was turned down for Raph to help pay the balance because they said her need wasn't related to CO. Even when a tenants at fault in an eviction case, it's frequently
007related to disabilities, mental health concerns, or other stigmas. I worked with tenants accused of fighting with property management who actually needed accommodations for their PTSD. Another tenant was being bullied by a neighbor for being transgendered and then discriminated against by her landlord who chose to evict her as the problem tenant. Where a landlord sees a tenant that's not maintaining a clean apartment or is hoarding. I've seen tenants with physical limitations or anxiety disorders that can be managed with supportive services, patience, and understanding. And sometimes people just have bad luck, like the single mom I met who takes care of her teenagers and her elderly disabled mother. She works and goes to school full-time. She doesn't ask for help because she knows her skin tone and her accent already made people judge her. Despite all her
008hard work caring for her family, she just learned her landlord of the last 15 years wants her to move out so he can sell the property. She can't afford a broker's fee or the upfront cost of moving. She can't afford market rent in the area either, but she makes too much money to qualify for emergency family shelter and it could take years to get a subsidy. The system just doesn't have enough help to go around. Even when we turn to welfare services, SNAP doesn't cover other necessities like toiletries or even toilet paper. Unemployment benefits aren't enough to make ends meet for someone who could barely afford their rent while working. Disability benefits can take a year or more to be approved. Here at Housing Families, we try to bridge the gap for our clients. Whether
009it's cleaning supplies, extra food, backpacks full of school supplies, or even gifts for the holidays. But for every family we can help, there are many more who aren't getting the support they need, which is what makes conversations like this one so important. Thank you for your time. >> I'm also honored to raise up the voice of one firsttime Massachusetts home buyer who shares her recent process to home ownership with assistance from a local housing counseling organization and loan program opportunities. Hi everyone. My name is Marcia Finkelstein and I am the proud owner of a 40B uh unit uh that I purchased over a year ago. I am here to testify about my experience. Uh first thing uh that I experienced was the support that I received from the first-time home buyers class that I attended
010through Medford Community Housing. Susan Collins was the first point of contact I had at the organization. This was during co so it was all remote and it helped me a lot as I was going on this journey 2 years ago and I ended up buying the unit in June of 2020 22 I I'm sorry 2022 and throughout that time uh receiving support and advice and counseling from her uh really really made the difference for me uh learning about different grant programs like the equity builders and doing my own research uh for other down payment assistance programs like the one in the town that I ended up moving to uh really helped me leverage uh a a great deal of resources to help make my final loan way more affordable. And another piece that can be
011really daunting for a first-time home buyer like myself uh is just the application process. like all that paperwork that needs to be filled out uh even though some of it's very repetitive for the different parties can be very overwhelming for people and so I just want to make sure that you're aware that uh that could be a barrier and that doesn't have to be. Um the other piece uh is the loan itself. I because of my income I qualified for the Mass Housing Partnership One mortgage and I had to figure out again I tapped into um Susan's knowledge to figure out which lenders participate because the information is not easily uh and readily available and so I had to figure it out and I ended up going with a lender who was knowledgeable about it
012and she helped submit the application for me and I was approved and she wasn't always on the same page with me about how to how to package it uh and and layer it with the other sources of down payment assistance grants. And so I it felt like a lot of work, but it it all worked out at the end. Uh but it's really important that lenders and all the other parties involved in that in that purchase are well-versed in these pieces because it will help that process go much smoother, get more people into home ownership opportunities and like me be able to come out the other side after some time with real equity. And I never thought in a million years that I would be able to buy my own home. And so now knowing
013that I will walk away whenever I move on to the next thing with actual equity really just makes me really happy and I love being a first-time home buyer and I'm really glad to be able to testify um for you know for you and uh thank you so much. >> Great. Thank you. So this is actually my second community conversation on housing. The first occurred in 2020 and was focused on pandemic era housing policies and protections. Given the ongoing need for solutions to Massachusetts's housing crisis and recognition by the electorate that this remains a top concern, I'm glad to make space for another conversation on housing. I want to acknowledge that housing instability is a global geopolitical issue with significant intersectionality with immigration policy set at the federal level. Of course, we are seeing that
014here in Massachusetts with the increase in migrant families arriving in the state. That global context warrants its own separate examination through a necessarily federal lens. Our conversation tonight is grounded in the recognition that housing availability was a challenge before the pandemic and it remains so far beyond the recent migrant influx. In fact, in a briefing just last week with the Lieutenant Governor, we heard that nearly twothirds of the more than 60,000 families in the emergency shelter system are Massachusetts residents. Across the 32nd Middle Sex District and the state, there exists a need for more housing. Not only more affordable housing, but housing for all income levels. The insufficient supply of housing has pushed the average rental burden for residents and the average home buyer down payment to national highs. Data also confirm that housing challenges
015are not born equally with bias and discrimination present in the system. In terms of supply across the state, we know thousands of families and individuals are not able to find sufficient housing. We simply have not kept up with the demand. Massachusetts lags behind 40 other states in terms of our housing stock and is more than 40% below the national average for housing production. We thus have the fourth highest property values in the nation and the lowest vacancy rates for both rental and homeowner properties. This creates a real challenge as the Commonwealth looks to support the expansion of biotech, pharmaceutical, and other high growth industries and attract 21st century businesses and their employees to the state. We want the housing market to be a source of economic strength and opportunity, but our supply is not keeping
016up with our economic ambitions. And there is a concern that residents and workers may decide to seek work and permanence in other states where the challenge of finding housing is not so daunting. It's been more than 20 years since I took an econ 101 class, but I remember that classic interplay of supply, demand, and cost. The high cost of housing in Massachusetts is a natural result of our lack of supply. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition reports that half of all low-income renter households and one in five middle-income renter households in Massachusetts are costburdened or severely costburdened. 31% of renter households are extremely low income and within these households, more than half of household income goes toward rental payments. Housing costs affect home buyers obviously as well. The ability to afford a home feels like it's
017becoming slighter and slighter. Mortgage rates have double are about double what they were last year with single family home prices continuing to araid the path to home ownership. Achieving home ownership as we just heard from one of the testimonials is a major lever for establishing intergenerational wealth. And with so many families unable to become home owner owners, I'm concerned I think as all of us are about racial wealth gaps and other gaps exacerbating. In light of this landscape, state and local policy makers, practitioners, and advocates are striving to identify opportunities to address the housing crisis. So, in my first year as a state representative, I was glad to join the legislature in passing the first zoning reforms Massachusetts had seen in decades. Among them, the housing choice initiative enabled cities and towns to lower a
018historic supermajority requirement for approving zoning changes to a simple majority. Another important component of that economic development law was the requirement that municipalities served by the MT MBTA establish at least one district for multi-unit development by right. Additionally, in the years that have followed, I've been proud to support budgets that fund important housing programs and resources, including some I anticipate our panel will discuss. For example, in this year's fiscal year 24 budget, we invest in the Massachusetts rental voucher program, residential assistance for families in transition, and public housing. Additionally, we made permanent a pandemic era protection against eviction for residents where there is a pending application for emergency rental assistance under RAFT or any other program administered by the state, a municipality or a nonprofit or entity. Further, with the blessing of the state legislature,
019a new executive office of housing livable communities with us tonight was established this year. It raises the status of housing by creating a secretariat level office solely focused on housing. In terms of future prospective work, more than 6,600 bills were filed to start the current legislative session. 162 of them were assigned to the joint committee on housing with notable pieces of legislation including the tenant opportunity to purchase act, an act to establish an office of fair housing and a fair housing trust fund and income tax credits for affordable housing units. Housing related bills also are being considered in many other committees. In fact, of the two bills that I filed this session, one an act updating and expanding the renters's income tax deduction has been assigned to the revenue committee. And in fact, the proposal
020in that bill to increase the rental tax deduction was included and engrossed by both the House and Senate in separate tax reform bills that are now in conference committee. A second bill that I filed, an act to improve municipal access to existing housing data, the image act, would direct the executive office to create an accessible database with accurate and detailed information about each community's affordable housing stock. Housing advocates and organizations across the state, including Metro Housing Boston, Chapa, and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, with which I worked on the image act, have identified priority bills that they support this session. In addition to your local elect or excuse me, your elected state officials, Massachusetts residents can look to executive branch agencies for regulatory and policymaking activities, to local officials for efforts close to home, and
021to housing organizations for guidance and programmatic resources that enhance opportunities and protections when it comes to housing. I'm really pleased now to turn over to our panel of esteemed housing experts to speak about the critical work in which they engage to support families and individuals across Massachusetts. And I'd love to start with you, Eric, talking a little bit about the new executive office and the policies that you're leading on to uh work on sustainable, affordable, accessible housing. Thanks so much for being with us. >> Thank you, Representative, and thank you so much for inviting me to participate and participate on behalf of our new executive office of of housing and livable communities. Um it's a really incredible opportunity um to make housing uh the priority that it needs to be and it's certainly something that
022Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll and and working under now Secretary Ed Augustus um that we're able to to focus on every day as you said um you framed the challenges that we face uh really well um and it's no surprise to anyone uh we don't have to convince I you know, have the battle there is we don't have to convince anyone that we have a we have a crisis um that literally there is an emergency declaration right now um due to the emergency assistance family shelter system. The number of families you mentioned or you put up on the screen 6,300 families and growing every day that's over 24,000 people. Um and each one of those are families with children. Um so when we think about the work that we do um that certainly uh
023provides that that motivation, that inspiration to to do everything that we can to address our housing challenges. Um you also talked about the opportunities that we have and and I think we're in a really exciting place. We have um Governor Healey who did said, you know, on the campaign trail, I'm going to create an executive office of housing. Um and now we're here. Um and uh we're 100 I think 107 days in for the office of housing um and we are counting um and we want to demonstrate the difference that we're going to make like what is the difference that we have in office of housing now um and that's why having a committed governor having secretary Augustus um and Lieutenant Governor um we're working to really have you know address the 200,000 homes that
024we know we need uh created by the end of the decade um to meet demand and we're working to um make our family shelter system um you know get that under control and make homelessness rare brief um and uh and occurring very infrequently. Um and we have new tools and policies and resources to do that. Um you talk about the MBTA Communities Act that was passed. That's something that Governor Healey is is committed to implementing fully. That's going to open up potentially 200,000 uh new homes of zoning capacity of, you know, communities around public transportation, smart growth, um uh homes that can be built um hopefully once the zoning is in place. Uh you talked about the state budget and some of the really great uh successes there, increased funding for MRVP. Um that's going
025to help us create this year alone 750 new vouchers um and allow us to make uh vouchers like the alternative housing voucher program which serves persons with disability. Not only create new vouchers which we anticipate about 150 new vouchers being created but also for the first time ever having that program which again serves persons with disabilities build new deeply affordable and accessible housing. Um there's also increased resources for public housing and something that um the governor and lieutenant governor are are committed to doing everything we can to preserve that precious resource of over 43,000 uh public housing homes. Um something that's unique to Massachusetts and something we can be really proud of. Um on top of that, we're looking at what you know beyond that, what's next? Um and of course we have um legislation
026that the administration is working on that we're working on very much at at the executive office of housing livable communities um in the form of housing bond bill. This is a piece of legislation that um really needs to be filed and passed every 5 years and provides resources for all of our affordable housing uh programs that build and preserve affordable housing as well as public housing. Um and and Governor Healey is really seeing this as an opportunity to to make a statement on on housing um and to meet the moment. Um the lieutenant governor has been using um the word we we need a housing moonshot and so we think that this is our opportunity um along with the legislature working closely with you there um to to meet the moment. And so we're excited
027to be able to hopefully roll out that package soon. U I don't want to get ahead of of my boss and bosses, my the secretary, lieutenant governor and governor. Um but we are looking to file um an excited exciting package of resources and policies um by the end of the month um that we really think are going to help put us on track to address our housing challenges um and create that competitive commonwealth um that we know uh we are um and providing the jobs and the homes for uh people and our workers. Um, and so, so we're excited to to to do that and to, uh, hopefully come back and talk with you about what's in that package, uh, real soon. So, uh, thanks again for having me. >> Thanks so much, Eric. Really
028appreciate it. And if you do want to smatter on a few insights, you know, hear her first. We'll we won't we will we'll keep it a little quiet. Um, let's turn now to Debbie over at the city of Malden. Obviously, it's really critical to have strong state leadership on issues around housing and at the same time, we know that municipal governments and local leadership can make a big difference in meeting the housing needs of our local communities. So, Debbie, I'd love for you to share a little bit about what's been going on in Malden and really appreciate you being here. >> Thanks, Representative, for hosting this. Eric, if you can put my name at the top of the list for those funding opportunities. Uh, we're always looking for new ones. So, and we have a
029grant writer on staff, so we can submit an application. Um, you know, I I have to say that, um, you know, this job has taught you one thing, and it it's to be nimble, uh, depending upon, you know, uh, what is going on out there. And I I think CO in particular, you know, kind of really focused the problem for Malden in terms of people having issues with housing, but it just became more front and center with us. And you know, just we had just come off having a housing needs assessment done um by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which you know, has some you know, startling statistics in it. Um it it notes that 40% of Malden residents are housing cost burden and that means that they're paying more than 30% of their monthly
030income on housing costs and therefore are more at risk of displacement visa v you know eviction or being priced out. It also noted that 56% of Malden residents earn less than 80% of the area median income and will qualify for affordable housing. And then 25% which is one in four of Malden residents earn less than 30% area median income which puts them in the you know classification as extremely low income. So, with that, you know, being said, the um the mayor of Malden, Mayor Gary Christensen, um you know, um worked together with, you know, our team and felt a few years ago that, you know, we really needed to start advancing some affordable housing strategies um to meet the needs of the you know, residents in the community. And um you know so at that
031time we advanced policies maybe going back three years now that we created an affordable housing trust fund. The city did not have that and we have um initially funded it with some mitigation fees from local developers and are looking at other ways to grow that fund including we recently got an allocation from the community preservation committee. We also established the city did not have one. And some of these conversations, as you know, in municipalities or at the state level, you know, are not always the easiest to have in terms of housing. Everybody has different philosophies and viewpoints on it. But, you know, we we finally did get consensus and over this affordable housing trust fund and and the inclusionary zoning. And I think it was because of um it was a more you know comprehensive
032and deliberative roll out of these programs and a willingness to have as many conversations as we needed to have with stakeholders in terms of trying to get buy in that these policies um be created. Uh we finally after establishing you know maybe two years ago now we finally have two projects that are coming out of the ground that will have you know inclusionary zoning units. So that requires a uh 15% um have to be affordable of any development, eight units of more. And while I'll talk later about this, that's in direct conflict with the state's new MBTA community zoning. Um although we've learned that we can apply for a waiver because their zoning only requires a 10% affordability requirement as I understand it. And you know, we want to get it to the 15 with
033a waiver potential hopefully so that our ordinance is starting to talk to each other so that under one ordinance you don't have to do this requirement in terms of affordability and which is different than that. So to us it it makes sense to try to um get that waiver if we can. Um, in addition to that, um, during COVID, we used, and again, some of these are one-time resources, so we're going to have to look at how we identify funding in the future, but we used, um, we had several hundred,000 worth of money through the community development block grant program, and we were able to use that. We spent, I think it was um $500,000 on um eviction an eviction prevention program as well as we gave income eligible residents um um they could apply
034for a month's worth of um rental assistance. We also used some of the funds uh during that time. There were efforts by a couple of the major landlords to really up prices on their um tenants and some couple of really large apartment buildings in the city that we were able to um surprisingly but get the landlords to the table um at G at the mayor's urging and negotiate an agreement where we did subsidize some of the landlords operating costs with a signed legal agreement that they would keep those rents at, you know, a certain level for at least a year. So, we did, you know, it wasn't a a permanent cure, but it was at least a, you know, a stop gap measure at that time, particularly when we were in, you know, lockdown. We
035also used some of the CO money. Um, the two folks that spoke on video, they're right, applications are daunting. Even the applications that we have in the city for housing rehab programs or to get federal uh community development block grant, they're multiple pages. Most of them are in English. um you know so we did finally to try to help people through that we've done two things we did create an office of housing stability recently and that right now is being run by it was interesting to see uh the first uh speaker uh run by the housing families and they can bring you know you know attorneys and others to the table to assist residents working through say an eviction process or other issues with their tenants um and I'm drawing a blank think on the
036other thing that we did um but it will probably come to me but I mean that that's been critical and that's been operational you know for a couple of years uh oh the other thing is we have uh purchased new software so that we're more or less our agency a point of contact for all the state uh city programs that help with housing. So, as I said, we run a housing rehab program. We run a lead paint abatement program. Also, low-income um homeowners, but if the if the uh homeowner is over income and they can point to the fact and show uh statements that their tenants are low income, we can help and assist that household with lead paint abatement. And we also have a healthy homes grant for things like, you know, ridding a
037home of radon, etc. Um and then you know and then we have we operate a home program which is a federal program that um we are the lead agency for eight cities and towns and um that actually our agency got the largest opera award to a home program in the um New England region um just recently that we're going to use those funds. We broke it down into two buckets to for supportive services and rental housing development that where um low-income people live um and also for the creation of additional um rental housing for extremely low-income people. So, you know, those are some of the things, but the software that we created now comes on and it's one portal. So, you don't have to decide if you're a resident out there, oh my goodness, what
038what application am I supposed to be applying for? the home program, the CDBG program, they all have acronyms. You know, it's very it's an alphabet soup of um programs. This just takes the person's application and um we vet that and try to match it up with the applicable program, which is probably more in line with what the state does, but we're we're new to the party in terms of, you know, um trying to make it as streamline as possible. So um and then I guess finally you know before we move on to the next thing is you know we the city looks at you know trying to provide housing at you know to a diverse community at varying price points. So, you know, we um out of the box a few years ago readily embraced
039and were successful in using housing development incentive program funds known as HDIP to create market rate housing in our downtown which is a gateway city. and that, you know, creation of that development, we were able to get, you know, as as you know, representative, kind of a reimagining of our entire downtown Malden because that brought a large mixeduse development that was able to benefit from, you know, tax credits and and tax write offs from HIPP and it really unlocked our whole downtown for, you know, e, you know, economic revitalization. So, you know, we are trying to chase all the different programs and we're working now to comply, although it's been the deadline's coming upon us with that MBTA community zoning and we will have something done in time for the December 31st deadline. So, >>
040Thank you, Debbie. That's an incredible menu of things that other cities and towns could be thinking about. Really impressive. I'm glad you brought up HIPP. something that the House recently um did a sizable took a vote to do a sizable increase in that as well. Um so really glad that people can hear and digest all the things that Maldon's working on and think what could also work in their communities and really proud to be representing um you and the city. Um, let's go to Aby now to hear a little bit about Chapa's vision in terms of an advocacy organization considering policy levers to move this housing crisis and some of the uh intersecting policy areas that are really impacting housing. Thanks so much for being here. >> Thank you so much, Representative, and I'm really
041glad to be here and be a part of this conversation. Um, we are really excited to have this conversation and are very excited about the things that are coming into Massachusetts. Um, and I just want to take a moment that to sort of reflect on Massachusetts has always been a leader on so many things and right now housing is sort of the single best investment we can make in our communities to secure that future and make sure that we are building on that future and it's still a very vibrant place where people want to come because that is our strength and we want to build upon that and housing is the way to do that. that puts housing as an issue or as a as a resource at the center of everything and addressing housing
042affordability in commonwealth. What that means is that children can live next to their grandparents. School schools can have teachers that live in the same community. Young families can build a future here. Stores have customers. Businesses are thriving. College graduates are coming back to the homes. Hospitals have nurses and seniors are able to age in place with dignity. and people with any disability can remain in those communities. That that is what housing means. It's not just about units and numbers, but it is about people's lives and what they are able to do when they have uh an affordable safe place to call home. Um right now many people are shut out from the home buying process. Many are struggling to pay rent and many have are making difficult choices between rent and food or um rent
043and healthcare. what we can do when we have uh an abundance of housing or um enough housing for everyone is that people have people do not have to make these hard choices. Um we also have to acknowledge that many restrictive housing policies have led us to having a housing shortage and some many of our solutions have to sort of um address that. Um there has never been a better moment to put Massachusetts on a path of equity, resilience and sustainability through housing. And we have um thanks to the legislature, thanks to the administration, we have u many new tools for zoning um to produce more homes. There are growing corporate commitments to housing and renewed federal focus um and investments as well and we need to leverage that. That is um as Eric said to
044meet the moment and that is that is what this moment needs and we can do it. We have done it before. Um Massachusetts has been a leader and we need to do that again. We all need to come together to do that. Chapa has set out with a goal of 200,000 homes. We are very happy to align with the um governor on that. What we also aim to do under those 200,000 um homes goal is um specifically call out 40,000 affordable homes. Um and by affordable I mean anything that requires subsidy to produce. And out of those 40,000 also u make sure we are building 20,000 homes that are affordable for those with extremely low incomes because those are the people who are um the first ones to get shut out of any process when
045there is um when there are any hardships or recession or pandemics. They are the ones to get um the most hit. And so making sure that we are um we are addressing their needs and we are creating homes that are that they can afford as well and putting out resources for doing that. Um while we are one of the um unique statewide advocacy groups that represent the entire housing system, we have uh more than 12,000 members ranging from um from tenants members um business groups and housing advocates, other housing administrators and a whole range of um um housing related stakeholders. And so our what we are trying to do through this is just get together the housing ecosystem to do this work because it's not going to be just one entity or um a singular
046solution that's going to address it all. It's going to take all of us together um to forward um this goal. We are also a trusted convenor and consensus builder with a wide range of interests um to make sure that our state and local communities enact and invest in smart policies. um it has to make sense for every community. It also has to make sense economically and it that is what will make sure that we are u moving forward in a resilient way. We have an extensive policy agenda. I'm happy to share our full um policy agenda from our website. But um to bring it down, we are focusing on our four P strategies which is uh to increase production, to preserve the affordability for tenants and plan for growth. Um, and it's all sort um
047sort of all of these efforts are for people. So, it's production, preservation, planning for the people because they are at the center of um all of these policies geared towards achieving housing stability for everyone in Massachusetts. We are currently working in more than 40 communities um to help implement the MBTA multif family law. Um we are so glad to see that came through because that is exactly what was needed. It removed a barrier um that was that was present for um that would help move forward the needle on housing production. Now is the time to implement it and we are definitely working with many communities to help them support them provide um assistance in moving forward on that goal. We we are also advocating of of course for the housing bond bill. Um once we
048have sort of the zoning tool when we have the bond bill that will sort of put in place the resources needed to sort of um get this production um going especially affordable housing production. What the housing bond bill will do is basically provide resources for production of affordable housing um along with um market rate and so that is something that we see as matching of policy and resources. Um so we have one piece in place getting the housing bond will will bring another puzzle piece into the picture. Um and that is how we move forward. We are also um production as although I understand is sort of um gets to the heart of the problem but it takes time for homes to get produced and for people to move in and so um in the
049meantime we need to work on rental assistance expanding rental assistance programs making sure they are reaching deeper and help ensuring tenant stabilization and helping tenants in a better way. also increasing the number of families it serves. And although we are always advocating for more, I also want to take a moment to acknowledge how far we have come from um these rental assistance programs which were um um a few decades ago, few decades ago um at um 10 million, 20 million, which are now at 200 million and are helping so thousands of more families across Massachusetts. And these are the programs that really ensure housing stability and prevent homelessness across Massachusetts. then we need to strengthen them and we are so happy and thankful to the legislature for um giving for having more investments in these
050programs but also working on improving these programs and making them more attuned with today's needs. Um so and to the government for um implementing them in those ways. We're also advocating for eviction prevention policies like improving access to council to provide legal representation for um tenants facing evictions. Um because in many cases you know that um landlords have or property owners have a far higher legal representations uh than tenants in which case they are likely to get evicted. Sometimes um they are not able to pay rent but many of times with no fault of their own. Um and so having legal representation can also ensure housing stability. We are also working to um uh advocate for establishing a statewide office of fair housing to address housing discrimination. Uh Massachusetts is sort of a leader in
051terms of having fair housing laws, but it's also important um to have resources to enforce them and implement them and having a statewide office of fair housing can really help with that. Um and also protect the rights of public housing residents. public housing is a great resource. We are one of the few states to have our state public housing to preserve that stock. It's going to take a lot more um investment which again we look to the housing bond bill but also preserving not just the housing stock but the residents and um their health and safety who are living in those public housing units. And so those are some of the things we are working on. We appeal to the entire community to join this effort um and be a part of designing communities so
052that they are vibrant and thriving and we can all benefit from a healthy growing housing ecosystem. And so I'm going to end that with just a appeal to everyone to join this effort and um advocate for these policies that benefit us all um to have a vibrant future here in Massachusetts. >> Thanks so much, Abby. And to your point, people can also we'll put up at the end sort of where people can go to learn more information and take a closer look at some of those policy levers that you've referenced including on your website. So great. I want to turn now to Elliot and Felicia and maybe we'll start with Elliot. Um as people as you know or representatives of organizations that are actually helping residents on the ground like the one we heard from
053earlier and the ones we heard about through housing families. sort of talk to us a little bit about what that work looks like and how people I guess in your case Elliot who are looking to be become first-time home buyers. What are some observations that you have? What are some resources that exist for people like that? And thank you again for being here. >> Sure. Yeah, thank you. I I really appreciate the opportunity. Um glad to be here to talk about the housing challenges that we face as a Commonwealth, especially those uh as they pertain to purchasing one's first home. So, I think that testimonial that we heard earlier was spot on. It was so well done and um I'll just try to elaborate a little bit on some of the important points that were
054relayed to help clarify, you know, how prospective home buyers um navigate the system, find information, and uh ultimately achieve their dream of home ownership. Uh you first and foremost, it's no secret to anybody just how historically difficult it is to buy a home in Massachusetts right now. Um prices are are very high, inventory is low, interest rates are the highest they've been in in in over 20 years. So, uh, it's really created a perfect storm for first-time home buyers. Um, because of those challenges, I think that it's critical that we create and provide, uh, affordable home ownership options. Those include readily available and accessible home buyer education classes, affordable properties for purchase, um, special mortgage financing programs, and down payment assistance programs. So, I'll kind of talk a little bit about each one of those
055uh, those four buckets. Um, you know, first off, how to get educated and find information. Um, so Chapa, where Abby works and of course where Eric worked previously is is great organization that manages a network of uh nearly 50 nonprofit organizations statewide and those organizations um provide home buyer education and counseling. Um the classes themselves provide incredibly valuable information to help people prepare themselves for one of if not you know the biggest financial decision of their lives. Um, within these classes, folks hear from real estate agents, mortgage loan officers, attorneys, home inspectors, and other professionals involved in the process. And those folks can help really um, answer your questions, help you prepare for for home ownership. Um, Chapa also hosts a website called mymasshome.org. And that website provides people with a centralized um source of
056information uh about some of the state sponsored um home buying opportunities um that I'm about to talk about uh some of the financing options and down payment assistance programs. Um so I encourage everybody to check out mymasshome.org uh if and when you have a chance. Um on the affordable property front, you know, the market uh is really expensive. As I mentioned, the median price in greater Boston $750,000. um certainly difficult to find a place, but that doesn't mean uh options don't exist. I always encourage first-time home buyers to uh think broadly about their options. You know, that might mean exploring different neighborhoods, different cities, different towns, um or even different property types like condos and two and three family properties. Um local cities and towns do develop affordable home ownership opportunities and in many places
057these are referred to as the testimonial said, 40b properties. Um, and they are few and far between, but they offer prospective buyers a great opportunity to uh, purchase their first home at an affordable price. Next up, I would just make mention of some special state sponsored mortgage financing programs where I work at the Mass Housing Partnership uh, or MHP. We offer the one mortgage and the one mortgage one plus Boston mortgage programs. Um, these programs are infused with state dollars and local dollars to help uh reduce interest rates, eliminate private mortgage insurance. Um, and ultimately monthly savings with these programs can amount to several hundred dollar a month. Several hundred a month in savings for a low to moderate income household can mean purchasing your first home or not purchasing your first home and it
058makes a huge difference. Um, these programs are available to income eligible households across the state. Um and we have a long track record, long history of serving socially disadvantage uh disadvantaged households at a very high rate. Um additionally, our sister agency, the Mass Housing Finance Agency or Mass Housing offers a series of affordable options to help low and moderate income households buy their first home as well. And then the last piece um I'll mention is down payment assistance. Uh, I think both locally, uh, statewide, nationally, down payment assistance has become, uh, uh, the, you know, driver of, um, getting first-time home buyers into their their first homes. Um, MHP and Mass Housing have partnered most recently on a program called Mass Dreams. Uh, Mass Dreams provides down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time home
059buyers who, you know, if not for this assistance, probably would find it nearly impossible to buy. Uh we've created a refined delivery system um for these programs and we're currently working with our partners in state government to find additional resources to uh to fund these programs and hopefully carry them forward. You know, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston offers um a few different down payment assistance programs of their own and uh as well as localities, cities and towns um through home funds or CDBG funds. So, I'll just end by saying, you know, research is critical, informing oneself is critical, and it all starts with the first-time home buyer class. I think we are one of uh we're a unique state to offer so many uh uh dedicated, approved, you know, educators and classes, and
060people really need to um seek out those classes, take advantage of them, and if just by doing that, uh they'll put themselves in a in a good position from the start. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Elliot. That's really helpful and really dubtales nicely with the testimonial we heard earlier. Um, and now Felicia, if you wanted to just highlight, you know, the work that Metro Housing Boston is doing and the ways in which you're trying to assist residents with accessing some of the rental assistance um, programs that are out there. That would be really helpful. Thank you for being here. Really glad to have you. Um, and make sure you come off mute. So, Felicia, there you go. >> Thank you for the um invite tonight. I really appreciate being here to be
061able to speak about some of the services and the work that Metro Housing does. Um we spend our time uh preventing and addressing um homelessness. We want to work with individuals and families that are um need some assistance to be able to navigate those worlds that that world. So we do a lot of prevention of of evictions and and we find suitable homes for individuals. We also do a some work with folks in our financial um literacy program to help them achieve some long-term economic stability. Um we accomplish all of this work through all of our programs that are all um connected and work to support individuals. Um some programs that we have that are not necessarily always highlighted at Metro Housing but are really key to helping individuals would be um the following programs.
062One would be our um supported intensive programs and services. And so that's our SIPs program which provides supported services and housing search assistance to individuals who have difficulty navigating that housing world by them by themselves. And so they receive that extra intensive one-on-one uh support which allows the case manager to be at the briefings for them, to be at hearings, um and also to advocate with them, to be in the field with them, looking at units, and really giving them that one-on-one um assistance that would they need. We also um partner with um management companies and other community based programs to be able to offer our collocation sites. And currently we're in 11 sites um throughout the greater Boston area. And the way that I think of collocations is it's it's taking metro services and
063bringing them to the community so the community doesn't have always come to Metro. So we set up in those locations and we offer um our all of the services that are here at Metro through our collocations program. And then we have our housing and education consumer program which is a program that definitely allows individuals to be able to seek knowledge and understanding around the housing and also around some some of the financial assistance. We offer workshops. We do brief counseling there and we also offer um assistance for our raft program through um the through through this this department as well. Um in FY23 the average um benefit for WAP was about 5200 per household and that and that was for Malden which we served about 300 and I was 380 families and then Melrose we
064served about 60 families and 50 families in Wakefield through our program. We also have programs um additional programs like our continuum of care program which is offers supported housing. So this program comes with the case management services. You have a voucher program because we administer rental assistance vouchers here at Metro. And so you receive a voucher, but in addition to that voucher, you receive some um a case manager to sort of help you navigate that world, which is also similar to our um home and healthy for good program. Again, another program that addresses individual homelessness and it also provides a an intensive case manager to to help someone as well. I think what we do um or how we do what we do and um is important. We we we take the approach of meeting
065people where they're at and um it doesn't matter what your current situation is. There's some program at Metro that we can provide you with some kind of support. And so we make an effort to to meet people where they're at and to be able to provide them with resources and and assistance to help them meet their needs. I would say that our impact um that we have is resolving housing challenges and again we do that through some of those programs but having the assistance of our staff to be able to provide that one-on-one um assistance to um individuals is just really important. Um you know making homes safer and and rents affordable. Um you know Metro believes that um that just creating housing just isn't enough. that the that we ha absolutely have to have
066the creation of housing within a certain income limit and that's that that's going to be key to addressing the affordability issue that most of our families um face here here at Metro that we serve. I would also like to just share that um the families that are are participating in our our program all are doing so voluntarily and that the services are free uh and uh free to them. So they don't have to provide any financial assistance to um Metro to receive any of these any of these these services. Um we continue to resolve uh you know um housing challenges and again like I shared earlier through our our housing hub program. Um we are helping families with eviction and we also are um helping families through a program that is fair fairly new to
067Metro and it's our accountable care organizations our acco program and this is another intensive case management program. It's through Mass Health and Flex Services, which allows us to work with people who are medically complicated and to be able to offer them housing assistance, case management, and financial assistance through that acco program. Um, we also have the Fair Housing Project here at Metro. Um, and we also um have the um the we we've also have made homes safer um through our our programs to help people with disabilities um stay in their stay in their home. Um we have the uh the loan program here at Metro. Um the last program that I didn't mention that we also have is a a program of home um that prevents that helps prevents homelessness and the housing and that's
068through our stabilization program. So families that work work in this program receive an additional 12 months of of services once they're in their community or their homes. And so Metro assigns a case manager to those individuals and they're able to assist them with providing assist them with their um living in their their new community and wrapping helping them connect to um community based services in in in the program. >> Great. Thank you, Felicia. That's quite a comprehensive overview. And again, when we get to the final slide, people will be able to confirm where they can go to learn more. I know that I've often reached out to your organization with assist for assistance with particular constituents who are, you know, struggling with making rent or trying to find a place to use their voucher. Um,
069and it's an important you you provide great um support for those individuals. Um, and obviously for many many more, not only in my district, but throughout this region. So, thank you. So, I know we're we're running up on the hour, but I'm hoping we can stick around for maybe 10 or so more minutes just to get some insights from you all on some of the questions that have surfaced um from, you know, people who registered and and your own um materials and perspectives have really sort of informed these questions and maybe we'll just go through them really quickly and certainly, you know, you can chime in if you have a thought on these and if you don't, you don't need to feel obliged to respond to each one, but I think one question is around
070just data. And I heard a lot from you all about numbers of people you're supporting, the number of units that we need. I'm, you know, curious in your thoughts about just how we need to continue to really lean in on accurate and updated housing data to inform the decisions we're making around development and affordability. Another question that I think comes to mind for many of us is we know that there is a production issue. We've heard about the shortages and we can see them and we've talked about that at length. Um, and you know, I think Abby, you talked about this a little bit, but you know, is increasing the supply of housing alone sufficient? And obviously just saying we have a goal, we also need the resources to accomplish that. That's something we're thinking
071about with this bond bill and that the legislature has been working on with HTIP and those sorts of things. Are there other necessary policy levers that we need to be considering for attending to this issue? Um, we talked a lot, you heard a lot from Elliot and Felicia about sort of the administration of these different loan programs or rental assistance programs or protections that exist. Are there ways that we can better streamline the services and resources that exist for our constituents who are navigating among all these different organizations and programs? And Debbie, the idea of sort of a centralized software portal is one example of trying to break down some of these silos. And then finally, what are some key policies and programs that you want to focus we should be focusing on for advancing
072rental and home ownership equity when it comes to racial equity, socioeconomic age, disabilities, folks who might not have access to um software and technology. Um so I'm not quite sure how to handle this. We we could spend an hour on each one of these questions. If somebody feels really strongly about sort of responding to one or several of these, I'm just going to maybe open it up and um we'll maybe take 10 more minutes just to sort of surface additional conversation before we close out if if everyone could do that with your time. So, thanks and if you want to put Yeah, we'll put that down so we can all see each other a little bit better. So any thoughts on either data or um better, you know, addressing equity gaps um thinking about supply
073or other policy levers or just streamlining and supporting residents who are sort of trying to navigate through what can be a really thorny and complex system. >> Can I weigh in on the policy level one? Um >> yeah, this has come to mind. um you know the the housing crisis right is not just you know one city's problem or a couple of cities and and um it's you know 351 cities and towns that make up Massachusetts and you know we in Malden have done things like occlusionary zoning we're working with Mass Housing right now through their neighborhood hub program and trying to take what are on uh the city's problem property list trying to acquire those properties with OPA funds and some assistance from you know mass housing and then sell those properties once rehabbed
074off to um you know um as affordable housing and permanently deed restricted if we could. Um but you know I I I can't feel that Malden shouldn't alone be you know working on this in a vacuum. I mean there there you know city leadership and and myself feel that the city has you know embraced transitoriented development. I mean, we've brought over a thousand units of new housing, you know, to the downtown within a very short period of time. And, you know, I just don't know if there, you know, you have MVTA community zoning. it doesn't seem that 40B has been successful in making a dent in, you know, the affordable home ownership uh supply that I don't know if something like a a mandatory statewide inclusionary zoning policy would be something because there are, you
075know, towns and and others that, you know, um don't seem to be, you know, participating as, you know, um as much as a as a community like Malden has done, you know, in terms of doing um you know, providing as much as um affordable housing and also home ownership opportunities that we can. So, you know, maybe a little pressure on that regard that, you know, communities that don't subscribe to it, you know, potentially could be, you know, mandated to. >> Okay, that's a good perspective and and we think about that in a lot of statewide programming and policym of sort of how much do we make sure that everyone has a stake in the conversation and a responsibility. So that's a good sort of framing consideration for anything we're considering. Thanks for putting that out
076there. >> Okay. >> Um just to follow up on Debbie's remarks, I mean um and to also address the data question. Um so MHP's um MHP puts out a lot of great data and tools and they had put out um this tool called toex which looked at um the transitoriented development and from that sort of um flowed very n that sort of supported the need for the MBTA multif family law where it showed that there was very less number of homes um around the transit stops be it bus stations or um T stations and so um that is where the policy formed where like we do need to require communities with transit access to have more um at least allow for more multif family. Um just having zoning does not build more homes, but um
077unless you have the zoning, it's impossible to build those homes. And so we are really glad to see that that law is not just some an optional thing, but communities have to comply or they lose a lot of um state funding. So policies like these can really make an impact. Um but it also takes time to implement them. Um and so I feel like things like those can really um are like prime examples of datadriven policy and that is something that we definitely look at um while also making sure we have the equity lens of looking at who who are those things um serving, who are those developments serving and um we we can look at best practices um even happening in Boston many times that is asking um for developments to look at who
078are the populations that you are displacing and who of the populations that will move into the new developments and things like that. So um many of those policies um are in the works legalizing ADUs across the state um um are some of those things that can open up a few more options for more housing um and once we have a larger stock that automatically will help stabilize if not reduce rents at least stabilize um rents. But we also and again um we hear a lot that just increasing housing stock may not address um the rent issue but unless we have um resources for affordable housing and unless we have more stock um adequate housing it's you're not going to make a dent and so we do need large number of homes just that are being
079able to be created um for addressing that issue. That's my sort of um for each of those questions a little bit. >> Very impressive. Good work. Thank you. >> I I think I can I can talk quickly um on the data piece. It's so important um to know, you know, to be able to what are your goals? Are you making progress towards them? If not, um what do we need to do uh to change our policies, to change our programs, how we administer to meet those goals? And so both in the goal setting and then measuring against those goals that's you know fundamental to addressing our housing challenges. And so um one of the things that we've done as a new executive agency for the first time we um just hired someone who is the
080chief of data and research at the executive office to look at exactly these things. Um and so we're excited to build that capacity um within our own executive office and then help um you know the our make that datainformed policy decisionm um other things that we'll look at I mean you talk the governor has given us the charge of building more faster more housing faster and more housing across all income levels um it's not just building for building sake um and so as part of that we are absolutely Absolutely. At the office um thousand livable communities looking at what are those barriers to production and preservation. We've talked a lot about zoning. MBTA communities is one thing. Are there other things out there? Um how can we make it easier for communities to do things
081like inclusionary zoning so that we have um uh dedicated deed restricted affordable housing as part of anything we build. Um we're looking at stateowned land. That's something that was also announced when the secretariat was created of looking at our state surplus land and and how much of it can we put to use for housing. Um so reducing those barriers to production and preservation but then also looking at what are the the tenant protections. Um what do residents need? Um what are the fair housing um implications of of the work that we're doing? And so, uh, looking how to support those fair housing efforts, how to protect tenants, um, from evictions, um, or from the, you know, the consequences of being evicted. Um, and then supporting our cities and towns. This is something that the the
082governor has has absolutely made a priority providing local tools um and the support that communities need so that Debbie you can do your work um and we can help you get through um the the new programs or or requirements through uh you know robust technical assistance um because we know that's where the work is done at the local level. So, what what local tools do you need uh to do uh your job and to build more affordable housing? That's a a question we're we're absolutely asking ourselves. Um so, all of these things together again are just items that um are important to to to our office and and to the governor and and things that you know we we look forward to working on so that again we we build more faster but more for
083everybody across all income levels. >> Great. I'd love to just add to a little bit of what Eric said on the home ownership production piece. You know, as a state, we've found ways to successfully subsidize um 40bs and inclusionary zoning units, deed restricted affordable properties, which represent, you know, sort of the lower end of the market. And private developers will always find a way to finance the construction of, you know, multi-million dollar, million-dollar plus sort of, you know, mini mansions. But there's a missing middle. we have not, you know, nobody's building the three bed, two bath starter home anymore because the economy of scale is just not there. Um and the the math is harder to get to. I think that um when we talk about options across the income spectrum um in terms of
084home ownership um building new opportunities um across that middle middle band is is going to be critical and finding the right places to do it obviously is is one of the biggest challenges. Thanks for putting that out there. And that's what kind of goes to the data question too about being able to see the nuances in the production that exists and where there are gaps. Great. Anyone else want to weigh in before we close? I can weigh on question three. You know, sure. Um, Metro believes that we do this through collaboration. I think that's the way that we we can address um streamlining services. We recently have um connected with Unitus from units.com which is an agency that has software to help identify participant needs. Um there's a live chat feature in it. You're able
085to see what agencies offer. Um and once a participant is um in the system, you're also as an advocate able to see where they're applying and um other agencies where they're receiving services for so that you're not duplicating any services in time and you can you can collaborate with those other agencies if you're working with someone and I think that streamlined the process and it prevents that the participants from telling their story all over and over again to each agency's agency. if we have a way that we're all working or connecting in one software to tell us the story. >> That's great. Right. I mean, and the side that we're going to put up I think now maybe in terms of closing out, you know, there is a resource that I've created and periodically updated
086with my office around housing supports and programs that exist. And in the course of sort of researching that, it's definitely been um you know helpful to highlight to constituents where you can go where there's one link that takes you to a form that works for you know however many numbers of for example housing authority building so that you're not going town and town and city to city. You can in fact sort of have a centralized place to access in this case one type of housing. But to your point, Felicia, there are opportunities and the legislaturator is exploring that through policy opportunities as well. A sort of you fill out an application for one benefit program. Is there a way to streamline that so it suffices for others also? So, I'm really glad you pointed that
087out. And it it's also very encouraging and not surprising to hear that people at every level of this work including at you know the municipal level when we heard from Debbie earlier are thinking about this and trying to come up with ways to make the interfacing better, easier and therefore more effective for the people who are so deserving of accessing these types of resources. So I want to thank each of you again for joining me tonight and to those of you who will be viewing this community conversation whether in real time or in the days to come. Anyone can contact our offices and you can see our how to do that for assistance or additional information. On my website, I do have this resource that lists out different housing supports that you or someone you
088know may find helpful. Please stay tuned for the recording of this discussion and for all upcoming community conversation events. Thank you so much and be well.