Six-week workshop aimed at giving municipal leaders the tools and resources to boost development of affordable housing in their communities
Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) is inviting municipal leaders on the Upper and Mid-Cape to take part in the Cape Housing Institute, which will kick off on Thursday, October 4.
Now in its second year, the Cape Housing Institute is a collaborative effort between HAC and Community Development Partnership (CDP) to provide municipal officials throughout the Cape with the support, tools, and resources to boost affordable housing development in their individual communities. Last fall, a total of 140 people attended the institute in its first year.
The institute takes place over the course of six weeks and will cover the following topics: Cape Cod housing needs and your town’s data story; an overview of Chapter 40B; planning and community engagement; financing affordable housing projects; affordable housing development; and fair housing and advocacy.
New this year, wrap-up sessions will be held in each town that will allow municipal officials to discuss how they can use what they learned in the institute to develop a plan of action that allows them to move forward with their community’s housing goals.
HAC is organizing weekly sessions every Thursday, from October 4 to November 8, on the Mid-Cape and Upper Cape. Sessions on the Mid-Cape will take place from 1-3:30 pm at the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS at 22 Mid-Tech Drive in West Yarmouth. Sessions on the Upper Cape will take place from 6-8:30 pm at Mashpee Public Library at 64 Steeple Street.
The sessions are free and open to elected and appointed officials throughout Cape Cod and the Islands as well as town housing and planning staff.
In order to attend the institute, participants must pre-register. Those on the Upper and Mid-Cape can do so at www.capehousinginstitute.org. Those on the Lower and Outer Cape should register on the CDP’s website at www.capecdp.org. Priority deadline for registration is Thursday, September 27.
Those who attend all six sessions will receive a certificate of completion.
The institute will feature over a dozen speakers from throughout Massachusetts who are experts in the field of affordable housing development. They include Judi Barrett, principal of Barrett Planning Group in Duxbury; Shelly Goehring, program manager at Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP); Nathan Kelly, principal planner at Horsley Witten Group; Dana LeWinter, municipal engagement director at Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) in Boston; Kevin Maguire, a development consultant and co-founder of Oxbow Partners in Boston; Leslie Richardson, chief economic development officer at the Cape Cod Commission; Laura Shufelt, assistant director of community assistance at MHP; Eric Shupin, director of public policy at CHAPA; and Maura Tsongas, a real estate development consultant.
Presenting sponsors for the Cape Housing Institute are Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation Trust, The Cape Cod Foundation, and Shepley Wood Products. HAC also received a grant from Sandwich Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to support this year’s Cape Housing Institute.
