Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Planning Subcommittee
Minutes of Meeting
Friday, July 10, 2009
A Planning Subcommittee meeting of the Salem Affordable Housing Trust Fund was held on Friday, July 10, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 313 at 120 Washington Street.
Members present were Lynn Goonin Duncan, Councillor Matthew A. Veno, Aaron Allen, Lucy Corchado, Mary Dennesen, Jennifer Raitt, and Leonette Strout. Also present was Jennifer Kolodziej, City of Salem Housing Coordinator.
Planning for Future Meetings
September:
Jennifer Kolodziej and Jenny Raitt explained to the group the new Massachusetts Foreclosed Properties Initiative managed by Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). CHAPA will serve as a foreclosed properties clearinghouse by connecting banks that own foreclosed properties with approved local organizations – called “qualified purchasers”- which will purchase the properties and upgrade these homes for low- and moderate-income families. The goal is to get the properties back on the market and re-occupied as affordable homes as soon as possible.
Jennifer Kolodziej informed the subcommittee that CHAPA has approved five organizations as qualified purchasers of foreclosed properties in Salem: Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition, Citizens for Adequate Housing, Harborlight, Salem Harbor Community Development Corporation, and the Planning Office for Urban Affairs. Since there are multiple qualified organizations, the City will be responsible for distributing the properties from CHAPA’s database to one organization at a time and will need to draft a protocol for this distribution. The subcommittee discussed inviting the qualified purchasers to attend the Trust Fund’s September meeting to discuss the type, size, and location of housing each organization is interested in acquiring. Also, this will be an opportunity for the Trust to
establish a relationship with these organizations and to learn more about their goals and current projects. Jennifer will invite representatives from each organization to the Trust’s September meeting.
October:
For the October meeting, members explored two topics: distribution of funds and education. Jenny Raitt thought that making small contributions of the Trust’s funds to different community organizations for affordable housing projects would further the Trust’s goals and make the Trust more visible and active in the community. The rest of the members agreed and decided that at the October meeting the board as a whole will discuss and decide on its funding priorities, the maximum amount of assistance per award, and other guidelines for how the funds will be distributed. Jennifer Kolodziej can circulate an example application for funding assistance to the board via email before the meeting.
Also, the Trust Fund has been awarded a small grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) for affordable housing education and outreach. The funds will be used to hire a consultant who will update MAPC’s home@last public awareness campaign materials and make them specific to Salem. These materials will get the message out to the community about the benefits of affordable housing, why it should be supported, and dispel any myths associated with affordable housing. Jennifer will send a link to the home@last website to all the board members and will move forward with working with the consultant. The board as a whole can review the materials at the October meeting as well as brainstorm about future outreach using the updated home@last materials.
Jennifer will provide the board with an update regarding the community meetings to be held as part of Salem’s 5-Year Consolidated Plan process.
November:
The board will be updated on any possible Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds that are available.
December:
At the December meeting, the board will review any applications for funding that have been received.
Adjournment
There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
__________________
Jennifer Kolodziej
Housing Coordinator
City of Salem
Department of Planning & Community Development
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