Senior Housing a Big Need, And Perhaps an Easier Sell
A growing number of people in Franklin County are considered senior citizens, and most say they want to spend the rest of their lives in a place that they know and love. Aging in place, as this is called, can be especially challenging in rural communities where the impairments of age make it harder to live independently – or affordably.
Click here to read the full article that begins at the top of page 1.
Talk the Talk with Executive Director Gina Govoni
Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Gina Govoni recently spoke on the Talk the Talk podcast as part of WHMP 101.5 FM.
Click here to listen to the full segment, with Gina Govoni beginning at 1:23:45.
Final housing authority members honored upon merger
The final three members of the Shelburne Housing Authority were honored Tuesday afternoon, as the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority celebrated the merging of the two agencies.
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Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority and Shelburne Housing Authority Merge
Executive Director Gina Govoni recently spoke with Mike Jackson of the Montague Reporter regarding the recent merger of the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Shelburne Housing Authority.
Click here to read the full article that begins at the bottom of page 1.
HRA Executive Director speaks on InFocus: Looking at the regional housing crisis
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, America is facing an affordable housing shortage, a problem for both renters and prospective homeowners.
Locally, there are several organizations that work with people in need of housing that also help with people facing eviction or foreclosure.
Click here to see the full segment.
HRA Director of Leased Housing Speaks on Section 8 Vouchers in Franklin County
Katelyn Reardon oversees Section 8 vouchers for the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Like many regional and municipal offices, it uses the state’s centralized waiting list.
When Reardon looked up the latest numbers, she said, “There’s a total of 464,493 applicants.”
Although almost half a million people across the state are on the waiting list, Reardon said, “Each housing authority has their own preferences for how they organize all those people on the waiting list.”
For instance, the Franklin County authority prioritizes people who live in the region, as well as local veterans, which comes to almost 1,300 people. To get to the top, Reardon said, it takes around three years. That’s not bad given that in many places the wait can last more than a decade.
Click here to read the full article and listen to the broadcast recording.
Affordable housing complex opens its doors in Sunderland
The first tenants are moving into Sanderson Place as Franklin County’s first new affordable housing complex in years opened its doors on Thursday.
Located at 120 North Main St. and featuring 33 wheelchair-accessible apartments, Sanderson Place is an affordable senior housing complex that was six years in the making. Tenants were approved through a lottery over the summer and have been waiting the last seven months for the OK to begin moving in.
Click here to read the full article.
Housing authority expands role in accessibility
Through a reconfiguration of the state’s Home Modification Loan Program, the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority is now better positioned to serve residents who need help making their homes more accessible.
The Home Modification Loan Program, which is overseen by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC), helps people with disabilities or elders modify their homes with accessibility improvements. CEDAC is a public-private community development institution that provides financing and technical expertise for nonprofits and other community organizations in Massachusetts.
After serving as a construction monitor for the last decade, the Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority is now taking on the role of a provider agency, meaning residents can apply for their home modification loans through the local organization, which Executive Director Gina Govoni said will open up the program to more people.
Click here to read the full article.
Community Health Improvement Plan kicks off third year with reflection
Public health leaders from across Franklin County and the North Quabbin region gathered remotely Wednesday afternoon for the first Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) meeting of the year, kicking off the final year of the three-year plan.
CHIP aims to identify priority health needs, disparities and the factors that contribute to them; identify current and required resources to address these needs; reduce gaps in services; and overall, improve the health in our region.
In the 2021-2023 plan, three major goals were identified, which include reducing substance abuse by youths; increasing individual and collective resiliency by strengthening social connectedness for those experiencing depression and/or anxiety; and finally, continuing to evolve resources to reduce barriers for people living with or at risk for Type 2 diabetes. Within each goal, there are several identified objectives, with anticipated outcomes.
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CEDAC Announces New Partners In Western Massachusetts To Expand Access To The Home Modification Loan Program
CEDAC announced today that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Home Modification Loan Program (HMLP) has reconfigured its “Western Massachusetts” area into four sub-regions in an effort to better reach and serve homeowners in these communities. HMLP is a state-funded loan program that provides no-interest loans to those in need of accessibility improvements to their homes.\
Click here to read the press release.
