The longtime site of an American Legion post in Quincy is due to become the site of a new affordable housing project for two returning veterans and their families.
Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore city of Quincy will hold a ground breaking ceremony Thursday at 1116 Sea St. in Hough’s Neck. The former location of American Legion Post 380, the site will be razed to make way for construction of a new duplex featuring two three-bedroom townhouse units that will be rented to returning veterans and their families.
"We’re pleased that this location, which for so many years served our veterans, will continue to serve veterans in the form of new, affordable housing," Neighborhood Housing Executive Director Robert Corley said in a statement. "Today’s veterans returning from Afghanistan are different than the soldiers who returned home from World War II, Korea, or even Vietnam. They tend to be older, and many are married and have children. So there’s a real need out there for affordable veterans’ housing that can accommodate families."
Financed with funding from the federal HOME program, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and community preservation funds, the $800,000 Sea St. project marks the fourth home for veterans Neighborhood Housing has completed in recent years.
"Creating this kind of affordable family housing for our veterans is precisely why federal block grant programs are such vital tools for our city," Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch said in a statement. The groundbreaking ceremony is being held as part of the City of Quincy’s Community Development Week activities.
The groundbreaking ceremony will also serve as the formal announcement of Neighborhood Housing’s new name: Henceforth, the non-profit housing agency will be known as NeighborWorks Southern Mass.
"Our new name reflects the natural evolution that has occurred in the three decades since we were first founded to serve Quincy residents," Corley said in a statement. "Since then, we’ve expanded to offer a wide array of affordable housing services across the South Shore and have opened new offices in Brockton and New Bedford."
The name also reinforces the agency’s longstanding affiliation with the national nonprofit NeighborWorks America.
