Looking to the Next 50 Years

A LETTER FROM ALISA MAGNOTTA

Dear Friends,

As we close out this milestone year, I am full of gratitude for all we’ve accomplished together.

Our 50th anniversary highlighted the tremendous transformation that has taken place at Housing Assistance since our founding as a rental voucher agency: Today, we have a staff of 120, we’ve assisted over 200,000 Cape Codders, we’ve constructed over 600 units of affordable housing, and we’ve set up a development pipeline of another 200-plus units. None of this would be possible without the time, talent, and treasure offered to us by our community.

We’ve spent the past five years scaling up so that we have the capacity to make an even greater impact in the future. We have the experienced staff, strong balance sheet, and collaborative relationships that are needed to carry our mission forward.

Quite a few of our long-term goals are on the cusp of coming to fruition:

– Despite significant headwinds, we will be consolidating our family shelters into our new property at One Love Lane in Dennis;

– We will relocate our headquarters to create a more welcoming housing resource center; and 

– Several housing developments are underway at various stages of construction, including our first with a homeownership component.

This is an exciting time, even with the winds of change coming from Washington. In Massachusetts, we have stronger pro-housing policies through the passage of the Affordable Housing Act. 

Our nation may be divided, but it is virtually united in the understanding that we need more housing, especially homes that are affordable to people at all income levels. There is clarity on the housing crisis.

On the local level, leadership is taking the need for housing seriously. Housing Assistance has used data and facts to educate the Cape’s leaders about the benefits of modest density and housing infrastructure that will protect the region’s ecosystem while supporting a year-round economy that benefits everyone. We have driven this point home through our work with Housing to Protect Cape Cod and a regional TV advertising campaign.  Seven of our 15 towns have identified town-owned land for housing. They’re reallocating assets, changing policies, and putting action to the crisis. 

Through organized advocacy, we have seen a shift from analyzing the problem to making real change. The progress we have made in getting people into stable, permanent housing and the broad acceptance that we must work together as a region to solve the Cape’s housing crisis will fuel our resolve. 

We may have furled our 50th anniversary banner, but our efforts to create solutions to the housing crisis will not flag.