September 26, 2018 (Hyannis, MA) – Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) is encouraging municipal officials on the Upper Cape and Mid-Cape to register for the Cape Housing Institute which begins next week.
The six-week institute is a collaborative effort between HAC and Community Development Partnership (CDP) to provide elected and appointed officials throughout the Cape with the education, support, tools, and resources to boost the development of affordable housing needed in their individual communities.
In order to attend the institute, participants must pre-register. Those on the Upper Cape and Mid-Cape can do so at www.capehousinginstitute.org. Those on the Lower Cape and Outer Cape can sign up at www.capecdp.org.
HAC is organizing weekly sessions on the Mid-Cape and Upper Cape, starting October 4 and running through November 8. Sessions on the Mid-Cape will take place on Thursday afternoons, 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 on Thursday evenings, 6-8:30 pm, at Mashpee Public Library at 64 Steeple Street.
The Cape Housing Institute is free and intended for members of select boards; town councils; finance committees; planning boards; zoning boards; community preservation committees; housing trusts; housing committees; housing authorities; and town staff. Last fall, a total of 140 municipal officials, representing each town on Cape Cod, attended the institute.
Based upon feedback from last year’s participants, HAC and CDP have updated the curriculum for this year’s institute which features a new slate of speakers and sessions that are more interactive. The institute 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. 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, associate principal at Horsley Witten Group; Jeremy Lake, senior associate at Union Studio; Dana LeWinter, municipal engagement director at Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) in Boston; Kevin Maguire, managing partner of Oxbow Urban, LLC 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 Worthington Campbell, Jr. Fund of The Cape Cod Foundation, Shepley Wood Products, and Wells Fargo. HAC also received a grant from Sandwich Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to support this year’s Cape Housing Institute.
About Housing Assistance Corporation
Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) is a 44-year-old nonprofit based in Hyannis, whose mission is to ensure that all on Cape Cod and the Islands have a safe, stable, decent place to live. HAC operates four family homeless shelters on Cape Cod; develops affordable housing; oversees Section 8 vouchers for the region; conducts foreclosure counseling; holds educational workshops for first-time homebuyers and those looking to rebuild their credit; and keeps residents in their homes through its homelessness prevention program. To learn more about HAC’s programs and services visit www.HAConCapeCod.org.
