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Contents
Letter from the Chairperson
AND THE Executive Director
Introduction
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Southwest Corridor ......
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Development of Affordable Housing
Preservation of Federally-Assisted Housing
Supported Housing
Child Care
Board OF Directors and Staff
LETTER FROM THE
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CHAIRPERSON AND THE
1
^^K' EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
1
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( ym /ty% 1978, the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts
1 1/ I §/ created CEDAC to serve as a vital resource for
'i
-V fj the community-based, non-profit development industry. As
we crossed our twentieth anniversary milestone last year, it
seemed appropriate to use our annual report this year to
CEDAC
serve as a retrospective ofthe vision that drove 's
creation, and as a celebration ofall thatwe have collectively
accomplished overthose twentyyears.
It is a pleasure to present this report in recognition of
the crucial work the non-profit development industry does
to house low- and moderate-income families and individuals,
to provide a broad range ofsocial and economic services
that support the efforts offamilies and individuals to
achieve economic self-sufficiency, and to rebuild
communities throughout Massachusetts. It is a powerful
testament to howmuch has been done; equallyimportant is
howmuch more we have yet to do.
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Sarah B. Ifoung Michael Gondek
Chairperson ExecutiveDirector
CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
T R T O
Z I
/m /fyt 1974 the Commonwealth aborted its plans to build Interstate
^
1/ I Highway 95 throughJamaica Plain, Roxbury, and the South
End. Community activists envisioned that non-profit development
groups could reverse the damage done to those neighborhoods by
building housing, creating job opportunities and community facilities,
and re-knitting the fabric ofthose communities. So twentyyears ago
State Representative Mel King shepherded the legislation that created "We went to CEDAC with essentially dreams-with
CEDAC
through the Massachusetts Legislature, to provide the technical A FEW pieces of THOSE ACTUALLY TOUCHING THE
assistance and financial support those non-profit developers would need. EARTH-AND we WERE ABLE TO GET ENOUGH MONEY TO
The non-profit development industrywas then in its infancy Only GET TO THE NEXT STAGE. AND IT WASN'T JUST MONEY,
a relative handful of such groups existed, and few ofthose had access to
IT WAS THE ABILITY TO SAY THAT YOU HAVE THE MONEY
financial and professional resources adequate to tackle real estate
FROM A STATE ORGANIZATION, AND THE CONFIDENCE
development projects ofany complexity. The vision ofa broad artay of
THAT THEY SHOWED IN YOU, WHICH GAVE YOU THE
non-profit developers controlling substantial real estate assets, enjoying
CONFIDENCE TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP.
political legitimacy, and managing a comprehensive set ofcommunity
development activitieswas an extremely ambitious, ifnot rosy, one indeed. "When you are a CDC director, you are kind of on
YOUR own: you don't have a lot of PEOPLE that you
CAN TALK to, SHARE YOUR DEEPEST FEARS ABOUT RISK
AND REWARD AND SO ON. TO HAVE THAT KIND OF ALLY-
THAT KIND OF SAFE PLACE TO BOUNCE IDEAS AND
PROPOSALS OFF OF-IT'S INVALUABLE."
Bill Traynor, Neighborhood Partners,
and former executive director,
Coalition for a Better Acre, Lowell
•CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
2
•r^ / \ •^ decades laterthat vision has been
\^
*^ %0y^y realized to a very substantial degree.
Community-based development organizations are
universally recognized as one ofthe driving forces in the
transformation ofurban neighborhoods whichwere written
A
offtwentyyears ago. wide spectrum ofresources, ranging
from private investment capital to dedicated pubUc funding
programs, has emerged to finance the non-profit
development world's real estate activity. An entire industry
ofintermediarysupportinstitutionshas evolvedto bolsterthis
industry's work. And pubHc officials laud the entrepreneurial
spirit ofnon-profit developers.
CEDAC is proud to have played a keyrole in this
national success story. For twentyyears we have promoted
—
non-profit community development by fashioning useful
financial tools, advocating for responsive public poHcy, and
Auburn Court, Cambridge shaping program design and implementation. Our success
has been due in large part to the enormous dedication of
formermembers ofthe staff and board ofdirectors of
CEDAC, who have contributed immeasurably to our
success over these two decades. In particular, we want to
CEDAC
recognize CarlA. Sussman, 's founding director,
who led the agency for its first fifteen years. And ofcourse
we salute our non-profit partners forwhose leading roles
T
we are, in the final analysis, supporting actors.
CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
We WERE GOING TO SEE TO IT THAT
THE LAND THAT WAS TAKEN BY THE
STATE WAS DEVELOPED. AS WE GOT
INTO IT, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT
SOMETHING MUCH BROADER NEEDED
TO BE DONE A NUMBER OF
PROGRAMS WERE PUT TOGETHER
DURING THAT TIME WHICH
SUPPORTED MANY OF THE CDCS,
AND IT JUST EXPLODED OVER A TEN
YEAR PERIOD AS A RESULT OF THESE
EFFORTS. For me, the WHOLE IDEA
WAS TO DEVELOP THAT KIND OF
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES."
Tent City, South End
Mel King,
community activist
and former
State Representative
CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
J- A/*% x-j genesis ofCEDAC lies in
1/1%/ ^y the Southwest Corridor:
the swath ofland through Boston's South
End, Roxbury, andJamaica Plain
neighborhoods which had been cleared in
preparation for the construction ofan
extension ofHighway 95. Community
activists pressed the Commonwealth to
reverse its policy ofhighway expansion,
and substitute the upgrading ofmass trans-
portation mechanisms instead. Their goals
achieved on that front, the communities
turned their focus to the question ofhow
to re-build the neighborhoods torn apart by
the land clearance.
Sumner Hill House, Jamaica Plain
CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT #5
non
profit, community-based development organizations
already existed then, and some had by the mid-1970s
already shown the ability to amass the political and financial resources
needed to build and rehabilitate substantial amounts oflow-income
housing. But those neighborhoods advocated for the creation ofan
infrastructure at the state level that would provide financing and technical
assistance for non-profit developers across the Commonwealth. By 1978
CEDAC came into existence as a part ofthat infrastructure, whichwould
2 VIEWS OF strike poHcy makers across the country as the most dramatic commitment
Langham Court
South End by any state to community-based development as a critical tool for
rebuilding communities adversely affected by poverty and blight.
•CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
6
Stony Brook Gardens Cooperative
ym /a/^ the interveningtwo decades, the Commonwealth,
Apartments, Jamaica Plain
^
[
1/ the city ofBoston, the neighborhoods, their
leaders, their institutions, and non-profit community
developers have collectively transformed the Southwest
Corridor. All along the Corridor, from its origin nearest
downtown to its terminus inJamaica Plain, the development
ofnew housing, commercial space, park land, and
educational and institutional facilities have re-knit the fabric
ofthose communities. Conspicuous, keyparcels yet remain
to be addressed, but an enormous amount ofwhatwas
dreamed twentyyears ago is reality today.
CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
"When we first came into existence we were looking
for technical assistance and an advisor that had
experience in housing. buildings were being sold
and residents were concerned about their future,
cedac said they could help residents develop
THEIR OWN PLAN TO CONTROL THE FUTURE OF CaMFIELD.
They guided us through a very complicated
PROCESS. They help you learn through experience,
1 RATHER THAN DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU. THAT WAS VERY
HELPFUL TO THE RESIDENTS AND THE ASSOCIATION. .
CEDAC WAS THE ONLY GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY
SAID 'we'll walk you THROUGH THE PROCESS AND WHEN
ALL OF THAT IS DONE, WE'LL STILL BE THERE AS A
RESOURCE.'"
Pauiette Ford,
Camfield Tenants' Association
^y^
manymonuments existto the determination and dreams oftwo decades ago: Tent
Camfield Gardens, Roxbury
%J v-X City, the exemplary mixed-income housing that rose from vocal protest on a
parkinglot. The complete makeover ofCamfield Gardens, Roxse Homes, and Grant Manor,
distressed federally-assisted housing in need ofa massive infusion ofcapital to provide
decent housing. Langham Court, the beneficiary ofthe bold thrust by the city ofBoston to
direct the benefits ofits downtown commercialboom to build housingin the neighborhoods.
Madison ParkVillage, a modelinner-city communityofferinghousing for the elderly, families
seeking rental and ownership options, and radically made-over pubHc housing.
8© CEDAC TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY REPORT
