‘I don’t know how people are making it’: How Fall River is developing affordable housing

Increasing Affordable Housing in Fall River

Renters Facing Homelessness

FALL RIVER — It’s become a story that’s all too familiar in Fall River and across the commonwealth: renters are being priced out of the market and facing homelessness.

That was the case for Fall River resident Ivy Perez and her three children, when the apartment building they had been living in was condemned by city inspectors. She literally had hours to get out.

With nowhere to go and no help initially when her family had to abruptly move, Perez had to send her three children to live with her brother as she desperately searched for an affordable place for her family to live.

“I got left with nothing. Nothing,” said Perez.

Rent Increases and Housing Affordability

For married couple Lori and Manny, who asked not to use their last name, the insurmountable rent increases to their third-floor walk-up apartment they’d lived in for more than 20 years put them on the brink of homelessness.

In January, Lori said, the rent for the apartment had already risen to $1,500.

“And in June it was going up another 25%, to $2,000 a month,” said Lori.

How Government is Increasing the Affordable Housing Stock

Mayor Paul Coogan called the redevelopment of properties very important to the city, including partnering with organizations and developers for neighborhood redevelopment.

For years, the Fall River Community Development Agency, funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has been providing money to local nonprofit housing agencies and for-profit developers with funding intended to increase affordable housing stock in the city.

The federal dollars used to develop affordable rental units, and other housing-related funding, is part of a federal block grant program called HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

“I would say we have invested with HOME funding about $65 million,” said CDA Executive Director Michael Dion. “We have four community housing development organizations that go out and purchase and rehab properties and make them affordable.”

Working with Local Nonprofits

Two of the nonprofits Dion works with are the Community Housing Resource Board and the Fall River Preservation Society.

Community Housing takes abandoned multi-unit buildings and renovates the apartments for low-income tenants.

The Preservation Society purchased property on 95 June St., the former John Read House built circa 1845, which was once vacant. The house was converted into four lovely apartments that are now occupied by low-income residents.

In January 2020, the Fall River CDA was one of five organizations to be recognized nationally, for helping develop the $24 million Fall River Knitting Mills mixed-income residential housing project for people over 62. The agency received the Audrey Nelson Achievement Award from the National Community Development Association for its $1.37 million investment in the senior housing project. The award recognizes exemplary uses of Community Development Block Grant funding from HUD and other federal funding.

Massachusetts is the Third-Most Expensive State for Renters

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual “Out of Reach” report released last month, Massachusetts is the third-most expensive place to rent in the country, behind California and Hawaii.

Data from the study shows that a working renter in the commonwealth needs to earn $41.64 an hour to afford an average two-bedroom rental home. A minimum wage worker would need to clock in for 111 hours a week to afford the price of a two-bedroom apartment.

Dion said projects funded through HOME must remain affordable for 30 years, with minor increases in rents, if any.

Not only are the HOME-funded projects increasing affordable housing stock, it’s doing much more — like stimulating the economy by hiring local tradesmen and purchasing building supplies from local vendors, said Dion.

“Yes, it’s building affordable housing, but it’s making our neighborhoods better,” said Dion. “And whatever the tenants’ challenges are for them in the future, the one they won’t have is affordable housing.”

Housing Security Makes the Difference to Low-Income Families

“It was the best day ever,” said Perez outside her new apartment on Murray Street, a neat and quiet neighborhood up the street from North Burial Ground.

It was the day Perez got the call from the Community Housing Resource Board letting her know that a newly renovated second-floor apartment was available for her and her family. They moved in in November.

Perez’s apartment is bright and airy, with new kitchen appliances. There’s a well-kept fenced-in back yard for her dog, Winter.

“It’s beautiful, it’s perfect,” said Perez. “Stability, that’s everything. And it’s affordable and I’m not struggling. I don’t know how people are making it. I really don’t.”

Lori and Manny also got a call from staff at the Community Housing Resource Board, and they moved into their first-floor apartment on Donnelly Street.

On moving day as they were hauling the last load, Lori tumbled down the stairs breaking both of her feet.

While she’s unable to walk as she awaits surgery, Lori was upbeat and happy in her new home.

“It’s lighter and it’s easier to access, thank God,” said Lori. “It’s a new beginning.”

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 1: No Poverty

   • Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular, the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology, and financial services, including microfinance.
   • Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and by type of tenure.

2. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
   • Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing.

3. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.
   • Indicator 17.17.1: Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: heraldnews.com

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