News for January 2023
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.
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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.
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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.
