The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. (MHIC) recently presented Excellence in Community Development awards to several individuals and their organizations recognizing "outstanding" community development efforts.
The awards were presented by MHIC Chairman Rusty Aertsen and MHIC President Joe Flatley at the nonprofit’s 18th annual meeting, held in the Bank of America Auditorium in downtown Boston.
"…We want to recognize and celebrate the people who have demonstrated what can be done to support and improve communities – even in the most challenging of times – with commitment, creativity and hard work," said Flatley.
Excellence in Community Development Awards were given to:
Patricia Driscoll, executive director of Girls Inc. of Lynn, a nonprofit that provides developmental resources and programs for high-risk, low-income girls and their families. Driscoll and her organization were lauded for "Girls Inc.’s success in inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold and for preparing them to lead successful, independent and fulfilling lives."
Using New Markets Tax Credit financing, MHIC provided $7.6 million to close the financial feasibility gap and make it possible for GIL to build a new home in a renovated historic high school that had long been vacant – without hard debt.
Barry Berman, executive director of the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home Foundation (CJNHF) received an award "for his extraordinary vision and commitment to providing the highest standard of care to the elderly and disabled."
The foundation consists of a family of institutions that provide care for the sick and elderly. Currently under development is the Leonard Florence Center for Living – a new facility that will serve as the nation’s first urban "Green House"- style nursing home. Comprised of ten private residences for 10 residents each, this new model in nursing home care transforms the way nursing home care is delivered. MHIC provided $13.4 million and NCB Capital Impact provided $14.6 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing for the project, which is adjacent to two other facilities run by CJNHF that MHIC also financed.
Bill Traynor, executive director of Lawrence CommunityWorks (LCW) received an award "for Lawrence CommunityWorks" transformative work in the North Common neighborhood in Lawrence."
LCW provides educational programs – designed to help participants advance in life and expand their economic horizons – for neighborhood youth and adults. LCW has also developed affordable housing through its real estate development department. In 2007 LCW opened a new community center – called Nuestra Casa-Our House Center for Design and Technology – enabling the nonprofit to expand its successful programs The new building involved the adaptive reuse and historic rehabilitation of a former parish school that had been vacant for about 25 years. For that project, MHIC provided $5.7 million in New Markets Tax Credit and historic tax credit financing.
