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Worcester Common Ground Reflects on the Racial Equity Pledge

September 17th, 2024 by

By Kavi Neva:

It has been four years since MACDC launched the Racial Equity Pledge, and we feel that now is a good time to reflect on it and the impact it has had on our partner CDCs across the state. To do this, we met with a few representatives from our partner CDCs to ask them how adopting the pledge has affected their work.  

Worcester Common Ground is a community development corporation targeting Worcester’s Greater Piedmont Area. They are focused on providing affordable housing, maintaining urban green spaces, tenant advocacy, and economic development. They were originally established in 1988 in reaction to rising rents, displaced families, and vacant properties.  

Due to the nature of their work, WCG was already involved in racial equity work before MACDC’s Racial Equity Pledge. Annessia Jimenez, WCG’s Community Organizer, explained that even though they were doing the work beforehand, “the Pledge just helped to instigate continuation of that work… it was very, very important to our [Executive] Director,” Yvette Dyson. Since this was the case, signing onto it two and a half years ago was a great opportunity for WCG to show solidarity with our other partner CDCs. 

Annessia Jimenez, WCG’s community organizer, explained that some of WCG’s goals for racial equity work include making less biased decisions related to tenants, working with (minority owned) businesses that reflect WCG’s values, and increasing representation within their staff during a time of turnover and expansion. Right now, about half of WCG’s staff can speak Spanish, and therefore connect with more people in the community they serve. According to Annessia, WCG’s main challenge with racial equity work and upholding our Pledge: 

is being able to dedicate time to our goals and working towards them… we're a small team. Everybody's spread thin. So, it's balancing [between] being able to do our work and dedicating the time and ensuring that we're giving enough time to [commit to racial equity] work. 

Over the last few years, WCG has worked extensively with a DEI consultant to review and evaluate their goals as well as the progress that they have made toward their goals using a system of key performance indicators (KPIs). They used KPIs to hold themselves accountable and establish a timeline for their goals. Looking forward, WCG plans to continue upholding the Pledge, because according to Annessia, it has “helped keep [WCG] accountable, and helped us move forward in that work, instead of… not really following through with it.” 

 

MACDC and three CDCs Receive awards from Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds

December 5th, 2022 by

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) has announced the 2022 awards of the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds (MA CHHA Funds or The Funds). As part of these awards, DPH, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) and the implementing partner Health Resources in Action, Inc. (HRiA), will join with the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts (SEACMA), Community Teamwork, Community Development Partnership (CDP) and 20 other organizations across Massachusetts and more than 35 of their community partners, including non-profit community-based organizations, municipalities, and coalitions. All of these organizations have committed to leading efforts to address the root causes of health inequities by disrupting systemic barriers to health and tackling institutional and structural racism head-on. Due to the pandemic, the need to support such efforts is even more imperative.  

 

In total ~$15.6M in grants will support 24 lead organizations and 35 of their partner organizations implementing strategies, ultimately impacting 183 cities and towns across the state. CDP’s project will be focused on the Lower Cape community and Community Teamwork will be focused on Lowell residents. SEACMA’s project will impact health outcome throughout Central and Western Massachusetts and MACDC’s efforts will be geared towards Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities. 

 

“The trust that the MA CHHA Funds (or The Funds) has put in MACDC and our members is indicative of an understanding of the huge impact that people’s economic conditions have on their health outcomes. Community development has a key role in improving those economic conditions and thereby improving health equity,” says Elana Brochin, MACDC’s Program Director for Health Equity.  

 

The goal of The Funds is to work with community partners to disrupt barriers to health, increase awareness and address the impact of structural racism on population health, and to create long-term, meaningful changes in population health outcomes.  

 

The Funds invests in initiatives in three core areas of focus including those:  

  • Working on long-lasting, community-driven policy, systems, and environmental changes that will make it easier to lead healthy lives and which will reduce health inequities such as racial patterns of segregation in communities and a lack of affordable housing production; 

  • Organizing and coordinating Community Health Improvement Planning efforts which convene multi-sector partnerships to collectively set and address community health goals, and; 

  • Working to address policies and systems that increase opportunities for healthy aging. 

 

Recognizing the complex ways in which systems impact health, the investments will support a wide range of activities across the Commonwealth.  

 

The following are descriptions of the projects on which MACDC and our members will be embarking with support from the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds: 

 

CDP’s Lower Cape Community Housing Partnership addresses housing insecurity in the Lower Cape region equipping residents, business owners, community leaders and local officials with the knowledge and skills needed to support the creation of more homes in the eight towns of the Lower Cape. With this funding CDP will use the community organizing component of the program to support systems change around land use policies in order to increase housing production.   

 

Community Teamwork will establish Advancing Housing Equity for Seniors project, in partnership with Age Friendly Lowell, Coalition for a Better Acre, REACH Lowell, and Community Teamwork’s AmeriCorps Senior Programs to address the root cause of housing instability among low-income seniors.   

 

SEACMA’s Health Aging-In-Place project is planning to address interconnected barriers to aging- in-place in a way that is secure and healthy. SEACMA will assess, plan, and implement culturally relevant service expansion for Southeast Asian elders in Central and Western Massachusetts; advocate for the implementation of culturally relevant services and programs with partner organizations; and engage and train elders and their caregivers for self-advocacy.   

 

MACDC’s Housing Quality and Health (HQH) Equity Initiative will tackle poor housing quality and associated housing instability, and address the corresponding racial health inequities, by improving existing housing stock in Gateway Cities.  

 

“Through partnership with Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds, MACDC and our members will have significant positive impact on health outcomes in our communities throughout the state,” says Brochin. 

 

The Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds were created in January 2017 when DPH completed a landmark revision of its Determination of Need (DoN) regulation, which authorized the creation of these Funds.  DPH provides overall guidance to the Funds and Health Resources in Action, Inc. acts as a fiduciary and implementing partner. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA) partners with DPH to support the Healthy Aging Fund. 

 

More information about the Funds can be found at https://mahealthfunds.org/

In Memory of Thomas Ruffen

September 3rd, 2022 by

The Mel King Institute mourns the passing of Thomas Ruffen, who worked as a trainer at our Resident Leadership Academy. Thomas was an incredibly gifted organizer and community leader. His death is a senseless tragedy for the Mildred C. Hailey community and beyond. He will be missed by our staff, trainers, and the public housing residents he trained throughout Massachusetts.

In March the Mel King Institute recorded Thomas telling the story of how he, other residents, and GBIO secured $50 million in badly needed funding for Mildred C. Hailey. The story is available here.

Massachusetts CDCs invested more than $1.4B in local communities in 2021 – The MACDC GOALs Report

August 18th, 2022 by

The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), on Wednesday, August 10th, released its 2022 GOALs Report, which reflects data collected from calendar year 2021. The report shows that, in 2021, CDCs in Massachusetts collectively invested $1.453 Billion in local communities – the largest annual investment made by CDCs in their history.

The MACDC GOALs Report, first launched in 2002, is the most comprehensive tracking of CDC performance in the Commonwealth. It measures performance across six areas of community development: 1) resident leaders engaged; 2) homes built or preserved; 3) job opportunities created or preserved; 4) entrepreneurs supported; 5) families supported; and 6) funds invested in communities through CDCs.

In 2021, as communities continued to recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, CDCs played an essential role in community resilience, and in efforts to redress and reduce- and make progress toward eliminating- unjust disparities in the pandemic’s impacts.

Perhaps it’s not surprising that these impacts are greater than in 2020. However, in comparing the collective impact of CDCs in 2021 to 2019, pre-COVID, CDC contributions to community resilience jump off the page!

  • 1,717 homes were created or preserved, 11% more than in 2019
  • 6,744 jobs were created or preserved, a 62% increase from 2019
  • 3,416 entrepreneurs were provided technical or financial assistance, almost 3 times the 1,256 entrepreneurs provided such assistance in 2019
  • 86,124 families were served, 23% more than in 2019
  • $1.45 billion was invested, a 58% increase from 2019.

MACDC would like to thank our member CDCs for participating in the GOALs Survey, and recognize them for the amazing work they continue to do in their communities year over year. We would also like to thank the Massachusetts Housing Partnership for supporting the MACDC GOALs Initiative.

Read the full report.

Legislative session concludes with some wins and some disappointments

August 17th, 2022 by

For MACDC and our members, we ended the legislative session feeling accomplished about numerous wins in the state operating budget including, level funding of $7M for Small Business Technical Assistance, over $30M in grants to small businesses, and $15M for the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment grant program. However, in a disappointing turn of events the session ended with the Legislature neglecting to finalize the Economic Development Bill. For MACDC, this meant leaving over $400M for affordable housing and over $75M to BIPOC small businesses unfinished. We hope that the legislature will address these critical issues during informal sessions this fall. 

Throughout the session MACDC also advocated and organized around numerous policy initiatives that would help to create healthier homes across the Commonwealth, increase dedicated funding for affordable housing and climate change, provide tenants an opportunity to purchase their homes, and decarbonize existing buildings. Although progress was made building support for these programs and educating leaders about their importance, in the end the following pieces of legislation did not pass this session:  

  • Massachusetts Healthy Homes Initiative (MHHI)  
  • Housing and Environment Revenue Opportunity (HERO) Act  
  • Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)  
  • Zero Carbon Renovation Fund   

As we work on our planning this fall for the upcoming 2023/2024 legislative session, the continuation of these campaigns will remain top of mind.  

Launch of Neighborhood Stabilization Program Brings Vision to Fruition

March 7th, 2022 by

On March 4th, MassHousing announced the launch of the DHCD/MassHousing Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), with $6.4 million available in the first funding round. The funding is available to municipalities, CDCs, and other nonprofit organizations that are working to address disinvestment and blighted conditions in their communities.  

This announcement is a culmination of the vision that MACDC and MassINC had in the fall of 2018, when we brought together stakeholders across the Commonwealth to address the persistent disinvestment in areas with weak real estate markets, in Gateway Cities and in small towns. These initial convenings resulted in the release, in January 2019, of a Report, Building Communities of Promise and Possibility State and Local Blueprints for Comprehensive Neighborhood Stabilization. 

 The Massachusetts Legislature responded by provided $750,000 in funding, in the FY2020 State Budget- and in two subsequent years- for technical assistance to aid municipalities grappling with distressed and abandoned properties, leading to the formation of the Neighborhood Hub, a multi-agency partnership to support neighborhood revitalization.  Under MassHousing’s capable stewardship, with the guidance of an advisory group comprised of public agencies and nonprofit organizations- among them MACDC and MassINC- the Neighborhood Hub is providing intensive technical assistance in five Gateway Cities. These locally-designed and implemented strategies to address distressed properties rely on an innovative partnership, among municipal government, community-based organizations, and MassHousing. 

With this week’s launch of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, funding will now be available for the rehabilitation of distressed properties in weak market areas across the Commonwealth, in urban areas and in small towns. NSP grant funds will be awarded up to $250,000 per unit, and $2 million per project.  

 MassHousing has scheduled three Neighborhood Stabilization Program information sessions for interested applicants.  Anyone interested can register by clicking one of the dates below: 

Questions can be directed to MassHousing at neighborhoodstabilization@masshousing.com.

This is a good example of how thoughtful and inclusive engagement, good research, collective advocacy, and a responsive government can directly impact the lives of families and communities.  Of course, the work is just getting started, and arguably the most challenging work- house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood- is just beginning. MACDC looks forward to being actively engaged in this work, so look forward to periodic updates.  

The NSP launch complements our effort to establish the MA Healthy Homes Initiative, with $100 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, currently under consideration in the State Legislature. This investment of federal funds would make homes, and neighborhoods, healthier and safer. For more information on MHHI, you can reach out to Elana Brochin at elanab@macdc.org or Don Bianchi at donb@macdc.org. 

 

Commonwealth Launches Homeowner Assistance Fund

February 10th, 2022 by

The Commonwealth has launched the Massachusetts Homeowner Assistance Fund (Mass HAF), a federally funded housing assistance program funded through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  The goal of Mass HAF is to prevent foreclosures and displacement of homeowners who are at least 3 months behind on their mortgage payments because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

MACDC, and other housing advocacy organizations, played an important role in advising the Commonwealth on program design and implementation. The Program establishes a central role for housing counseling in assisting homeowners with their applications, and is utilizing a network of other community-based organizations to get the word out far and wide, including to hard-to-reach communities and those with language barriers. 

Homeowners can check their eligibility and apply online. If homeowners need assistance in applying to the Mass HAF Program, in-depth counseling, or legal services, they can contact a local housing counseling agency (HCA). Homeowners can determine the HCA serving their area using the HCA finder tool. 

 

Member Benefits Highlight: Technical Assistance from Knowledgeable MACDC Staff

January 7th, 2022 by

MACDC staff provides technical assistance on a range of topics to our members. As an MADC member, you are welcome to reach out to staff whenever you would like a thought partner in your work, or to learn more about local community development networks and partners. We are always happy to chat, direct you to resources, and share successful strategies.  We can also link you to other MACDC members or support new staff or leadership onboarding. The following are a few specific areas that we can provide guidance: 

Crisis Management & Organizational Challenges – Unfortunately, CDCs like other non-profits and organizations of all types, occasionally face a challenge or crisis that can threaten the organization’s reputation or even its ability to operate.  Thankfully, many CDCs have recovered from these challenges to become stronger organizations. MACDC has engaged with many CDCs over the years and can be a helpful and confidential thought partner in this process.  

Executive Transition – In recent years, a number of CDC Executive Directors have retired or moved on to new opportunities and MACDC can help boards of directors during this process by identifying search consultants and/or interim directors or by helping the board to evaluate their needs in a new leader. 

Fundraising: General – MACDC provides fundraising support to our members as they strive to increase funding for both existing and new programs. From reviewing comprehensive program funding initiatives, to discussing specific opportunities, MACDC staff have decades of fundraising experience upon which our fundraising technical assistance is based upon. 

Fundraising: Community Investment Tax Credit – MACDC is a designated CITC Community Support Organization by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. In this role, MACDC staff provide significant feedback and advice to our members participating in program as they diversify their funding base, engage prospective new supporters, and work to sustain a growing donor community. 

Fundraising: Health – MACDC works with CDCs to apply for funding from hospitals, health foundations, or other health funds. Historically, this has included strategizing how to frame a CDC’s work from a health equity lens, identifying overlapping priorities with the potential funder, and visioning new directions for work in the health space.

Health Equity – MACDC works with CDC staff to facilitate increased engagement in the health equity space. In addition to hospital engagement and fundraising, this includes thinking together about ways to make an intentional organizational commitment to health equity, including staffing decisions and duties, and engagement in MACDC’s Health Equity work. 

Hospital Engagement – MACDC works with CDC staff to strategize ways to initiate and strengthen relationships with local hospitals. We can offer help with understanding a hospital’s commitment to their local community, understanding a hospitals Community Benefits report, and ways to get involved in local Community Health Needs Assessments and hospital committees. 

Information Technology – MACDC provides technical assistance on topics ranging from cloud computing to automation to help our members implement technology and operational processes that increase their organization’s capacity and allows for staff to focus on working more effectively with community members and residents.

MACDC’s Peer Groups – MACDC offers a range of practitioner peer groups to encourage professional networking, sharing of best practices and engaging in discussions exploring issues related to CDCs and community development. Currently, MACDC has the following active peer groups: The Boston Committee, CITC, Communications & Marketing, Community Business Network, Community Organizing, Energy Cohort, Health Equity Committee, Housing & Real Estate, Operations & Technology, Resident Services Coordinators, Small Business Development, and the Western MA Development Collaborative. Learn more about these groups here. 

MACDC’s Racial Equity Pledge – We can assist you in joining on to the Racial Equity Pledge and related activities. 

Management/Governance – MACDC can help CDC executives as they navigate all sorts of management challenges related to their boards of directors, human resources, financial strength, and other aspects of running a non-profit organization.

Policy and Practice related to Massachusetts Affordable Housing – MACDC staff can work with CDC staff to discuss a variety of topics related to Massachusetts affordable housing, including real estate development, climate and energy, and housing programs (housing rehab, homebuyer counseling, etc.) 

Political Strategy – Community development inevitably interacts with the political world and MACDC can offer seasoned guidance and a confidential thought partner as CDCs deal with these challenges. 

Resident Leadership Academy and Leadership development – We can assist in thinking through your relationship with community members and how to develop leaders in the community.

Small Business Development – MACDC is committed to supporting our members in bridging essential resources and providing technical assistance support. We remain active in our strong partnerships within the small business networks, to ensure we advocate for the priorities of our members. These priorities include Access to Capital, Supplier Diversity, Small Business lending/CDFI funding, Grants and most recently COVID Relief resources. In addition, we host small business support networks for TA providers and connect our members to local and state advocacy efforts that support policy work in the field.  We encourage all our members to see MACDC as a robust resource that can help drive economic sustainability in the communities they serve.

Strategic Planning – MACDC frequently meets with CDC boards of directors, senior staff and/or consultants to help them with their strategic planning. We can offer help with environmental scans, trends in the sector and reflections on organizational strengths and weaknesses.

Other areas that we have historically provided assistance include: career networking, community organizing, professional development, resident services, and small business development. If you would like assistance in one of these areas or in any other area and are not sure of the most appropriate person to contact, please reach out to Amanda Kahan and she can connect you to the correct person. We are here to support you in your work! 

MACDC Report Highlights CDC Initiatives in 2020 to Address COVID-19 Impacts

August 20th, 2021 by
Article by Don Bianchi and Elana Brochin
Report by Liam Baxter-Healey
 
 
Our Commonwealth faced unprecedented challenges in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged families and communities.   CDCs helped lead the way in responding to the health and the economic challenges created by the pandemic.
 
Today, MACDC releases a report “COVID-19 Response Report” which highlights CDCs’ responses to three of the most persistent manifestations of the pandemic:
  • Initiatives to keep residents, and the broader community, safe and healthy
  • Assistance to small businesses facing economic peril from the pandemic
  • Emergency financial assistance to prevent displacement of those enduring a loss of income during the pandemic
 
CDCs undertook a variety of strategies to ensure the health and safety of the communities they serve.  These included efforts directly targeted to health, such as ensuring social distancing, providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and making wellness calls. Other initiatives included providing food assistance, helping with COVID testing, and helping make connections with mental health services.
 
To assist the owners and employees of small businesses, CDCs helped entrepreneurs collectively obtain almost $12 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, as well as just under $10 million in grants from a variety of sources. To prevent displacement, CDCs provided cash assistance totaling more than $28 million to almost 9,000 renter households.
 

MACDC Members Stepped up and Responded to the Pandemic, investing $842M in Local Communities – The MACDC GOALs Report

July 20th, 2021 by

2020 was a year unlike any other, and (we hope) will not be replicated any time soon. The human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic, with more than 3 million people dying worldwide, and well over half a million deaths in the United States. The economic fallout from the pandemic has been no less severe. In Massachusetts, the unemployment rate jumped from 2.9% in March 2020 to over 16% the following month; one year later, it still stands at 6.8%, with many more uncounted.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the health and economic toll of the pandemic has fallen disproportionately on Communities of Color, starting with the first wave of the pandemic, where an analysis cited in the Boston Globe showed that the mortality rate surged higher in MA cities, towns, and ZIP codes with larger concentrations of poverty, economic segregation, People of Color, and crowded housing. The disproportionate economic disparities persist. 

While CDCs responded quickly and creatively to meet the pandemic-related needs of their communities, it is unsurprising that many regular CDC activities were significantly disrupted in 2020. Many CDC construction projects were delayed by construction bans and other disruptions, so much so that 54% of the homes originally projected to come online in 2020 were delayed until 2021. The result is lower than usual housing production totals in this year’s report, and a corresponding reduction in construction jobs and investment dollars. Many regular CDC programs were also disrupted by public health restrictions. 

CDCs found new ways to serve the needs of their community’s most vulnerable residents. Forty-four CDCs conducted wellness calls and other efforts to ensure resident and community health and safety, and 42 CDCs assisted with food delivery. 

Twenty-six CDCs continued long-standing efforts to support small business entrepreneurs, in old and new ways, helping these entrepreneurs access almost $12 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans and close to $10 million in grants, providing an essential lifeline to these small business owners. To help community residents struggling to pay rent for apartments in the private market, CDCs provided cash assistance totaling $28.2 million in 2020, an increase of $10 million from 2019.

CDCs redoubled their efforts to make their organizations reflective of the communities they serve.  In 2020, 36% of senior staff at CDCs were People of Color, up from 29% in 2019, and the number of CDCs hiring racial equity consultants increased by almost 50%.  

Some have called CDCs “second responders” to reflect the role they play during a crisis as they help people survive, recover, heal, and rebuild. Never has that been truer than in 2020. While the numbers and stories in this short report cannot tell the full story, we hope they give our readers a sense of how CDCs rose to the occasion during this most difficult and trying of times.

Read and download the report here.

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