HCA Newsletter

Some of HCA’s tenants and members have asked if recent actions at the federal level are impacting or hurting our work.  The answer is yes but it’s worth breaking that down a bit.

Thankfully, HCA’s nonprofit operating budget does not rely on federal funds; it is separate from our property budgets. HCA’s operating budget covers our staff and all of the expenses we need to run our programs out of our office, and also includes the grants we make for our Homelessness Prevention Program. This budget is supported by a mix of corporate and foundation grants, fees that we have collected from our most recently completed affordable housing developments, and all of the donations from you, our grassroots community.

Our affordable housing developments are a different story. There are two parts to any housing development budget: the funds you need to initially build or acquire the development, and the funds you need to operate the building year after year. The funds we need to build or acquire new affordable housing includes significant federal subsidies. We believe the largest of those – the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) – will be safe. That program provides large tax breaks to investors who put significant funds into affordable housing developments.  But there are other subsidy programs that are essential for making very tight housing budgets work that could be threatened, like the HOME, Project Based Section 8, and CDBG programs, all of which come out of HUD (the federal department of Housing and Urban Development). Every affordable housing project that HCA has developed to date relied on at least one of these programs to come into fruition.

The other side of our affordable housing is our properties’ annual operating budgets. Those budgets rely on our tenants’ rents to cover all the expenses of those properties. The properties all have monthly loan payments. Every year we also have to pay for insurance, snow removal, pest control, taxes, common utilities and more. The properties also have expenses relating to verifying tenants’ incomes and reporting to lenders to demonstrate that we are meeting affordability regulations.

While our rents are below the market, many tenants still rely on HUD’s mobile Section 8 vouchers to help them pay their affordable rent. If this program was slashed, it could have devastating consequences for our tenants and millions of others across the country. That, in turn, would have terrible consequences for property owners, including HCA, who suddenly would not be able to cover their basic property operating costs due to lower collections of rent. Most of our property budgets are very tight. Operating cost projections made when properties were first developed 10 or 20 years ago have not kept up with current economic realities. If we could afford to offer even lower rents, we would. But we need the rental income as it stands now in order to make loan payments and pay essential bills for our tenants’ homes.

The last, but most important piece of the puzzle are HCA’s tenants and other low-income families who rely on social programs because they can’t make ends meet given the current structure of our economy. I have heard from enough of our tenants to know that these families are scared. Will they have health insurance next month? Will the portion of their rent paid for by the Section 8 program come through the following month? If not, how will they care for themselves, or their child who has a chronic illness? If not, how will they pay the rent? Will they become homeless? These are the thoughts constantly with them.

We are lucky to be in Massachusetts, where state agencies will do all they can to prevent the failure of affordable housing developments and to support families. However, state resources are not unlimited. If these federal programs went away, it is highly unlikely that the state could adequately fill in the gaps. State resources for new affordable housing development and to support low-income tenants who cannot afford today’s astronomical rents are already strained.

I encourage all of our HCA supporters and Arlington residents to advocate for the protection of federal programs that support affordable housing and that support the ability of low-income families to remain stable in today’s inequitable economy. HUD programs, Medicaid (called MassHealth here) and other programs that enable low-income families, seniors, and others to remain healthy and thriving are essential for a stable, equitable and healthy society.

I encourage you to sign petitions, attend rallies, and write to your US Representative (that’s Katherine Clark if you live in Arlington) and Senators (Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren for all of Massachusetts). The members of our congressional delegation all support these programs, but it’s still important that they hear from us about what we care most about.

We don’t know what the coming months and years will bring, and none of us, individually, can fix what is or may become broken, but we all can do our part to act as best we can to protect and care for each other and our society at large.

With gratitude and care for you,

Erica

P.S. Literally as I was drafting this piece, I received an email from the Mass Association of CDCs, forwarding a message from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Please see below! I encourage you to take action. I have signed onto the organizational letter on behalf of HCA. It’s okay if you call after March 10th!

“It is not your responsibility to finish the work [of perfecting the world], but you are not free to desist from it either.”  – Rabbi Tarfon, circa the year 100.

Join the HCA staff at the Statehouse in Boston on April 10th to advocate for important housing and community development legislation! We will be meeting with Representative Dave Rogers, Representative Sean Garballey, and Senator Friedman (and/or their staff). Lunch is provided and HCA will coordinate transportation.

See below for more information and RSVP to Erica or Renea:
ESchwarz@housingcorparlington.org   781-859-5294 x1
RDuran@housingcorparlingron.org   781-859-5294 x7

The 10 Sunnyside Ave project is getting closer and closer to starting construction! The original timeline has been delayed because of pretty typical complications relating to closing on our construction financing. We now expect to get that done and start construction by early July. Stay tuned for a groundbreaking date, likely in June!

Under our new timeline, we expect the entire project to be completed by winter 2027.

The tenants for 10 Sunnyside Ave will be selected by lottery. We don’t expect that application to become available until at least mid 2026. We will advertise it widely at that time.

During construction, HCA will continue to update our project website, so you can keep track of what’s going on each month! We will also conduct other direct outreach to neighbors of the site who may be more impacted by construction activity.

Jackson Hamilton is being featured on the LISC Massachusetts website this month for his civic engagement work with HCA! LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) is a national nonprofit with program sites across the country. It provides essential support for the community development field — from financing to technical assistance to the AmeriCorp program that supported Jackson’s initial work at HCA — and more.

Read the write up here!

In April, Jackson will transition from being at HCA under the AmeriCorp program to being a regular staff person at HCA, continuing his civic engagement work with our own tenants and others in Arlington.

Women’s History Month honors the contributions of women who have shaped history, often overcoming significant barriers to advocate for justice and equity.  March 8th is also International Women’s Day — a day to honor the many contributions of women. In the realm of housing, women have been at the forefront of movements for fair and affordable housing, ensuring that all people—especially marginalized communities—have access to safe and stable homes. From tenant organizers to policy advocates, women have played a crucial role in fighting discriminatory practices such as redlining, displacement, and the lack of affordable housing options.

One notable figure in housing advocacy is Dorothy Mae Richardson, a Pittsburgh activist whose work in the 1960s led to the creation of the modern community development movement. Frustrated with discriminatory lending and urban decline, Richardson organized her neighbors to demand better living conditions and access to homeownership. Her efforts eventually inspired the formation of NeighborWorks America, a national organization dedicated to affordable housing and community development – and which has provided training for many Boston area affordable housing practitioners! Her legacy is a testament to how grassroots organizing, led by women, has shaped national housing policy.

That vital housing initiative is bolstered by the leadership of numerous women in key positions throughout the Greater Boston housing sector today. Emily Haber serves as the CEO of the Mass Association of Community Development Corporations, the trade group for organizations like HCA. There, she advocates for policies and resources to support community development and affordable housing, and helps to strengthen the capacity of groups like HCA throughout the state. At MassHousing, Chrystal Kornegay (photo below) leads efforts to provide financing for affordable housing, drawing on her extensive experience in community development and housing policy. Rachel Heller, the CEO of CHAPA (Citizens Planning and Housing Association), is instrumental in shaping and protecting policies that help to preserve and develop affordable housing throughout the state. Kate Racer, as the Associate Director of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, oversees the implementation of statewide housing funding programs and policies that enable the housing that HCA builds today to come into being.

The leadership roles these women now hold were historically held by men; indicating a shift towards more gender inclusion in the housing sector’s leadership. This change signifies a commitment to valuing the most qualified candidates for leadership positions, ensuring that decision-making in affordable housing and community development benefits from a wider range of perspectives and experiences. Beyond these prominent figures, many women contribute significantly to affordable housing advocacy and development in the region. This includes housing attorneys, funders, and affordable housing developers, many of whom call Arlington home. We see them and thank them for their work to create a more affordable Arlington and Massachusetts.