Housing Trust Plans September 13 Forum On Belchertown Road/East Street School Affordable Housing.

Report On The Meeting of The Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, August 11, 2022

This meeting was held on Zoom and was recorded.

Present
Carol Lewis (Co-chair), Erica Piedade (Co-chair), Rob Crowner, Aschleigh Jensen, Risha Hess, and Paul Bockelman (Town Manager)

Staff: Nate Malloy (Town Planner)

September Housing Forum Planned
This year’s housing forum will be held on September 13 . It will introduce the proposed plans to build affordable family housing at the former East Street School and on the land purchased by the town at 72-80 Belchertown Road (See also here for additional previous reporting). Way Finders, of Springfield, which also developed Olympia Oaks and Butternut Farms housing projects, has been selected as the developer.

At the forum, which will be held over Zoom, preliminary designs and a rough estimate of the construction timetable for the project will be presented by Michelle McAdaragh of Way Finders. The forum will give members of the neighborhood a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and give other input. Trust member Risha Hess has been working on an outreach plan to make sure those living or owning property in the area are informed of the program. McAdaragh said typical concerns of abutters to affordable housing projects are issues of noise, parking, decrease in property values, and worry about who will live in the complex. She hoped that this forum can address and allay these concerns.

The forum was originally planned to be held in the community room at the Unitarian Universalist Society, but concerns over prevalent Covid-19 cases and the inability of Amherst Media to adequately livestream the event led trust members to vote to hold it over Zoom. It will be recorded by Amherst Media for later viewing.

Over the next month McAdaragh and former trust Chair John Hornik will work on finalizing the program which will be discussed again at the September 8 trust meeting. Hess expressed concerns that the Zoom format would exclude many of the neighbors of the project, but Co-chair Carol Lewis suggested that a follow-up program can be arranged when plans are closer to being finalized, and that the second program might be held in person at Fort River School.

Changes At Craig’s Doors
The housing trust was introduced to Timothy McCarthy, the new director at Craig’s Doors. McCarthy said that, with the advent of the pandemic, Craig’s Doors changed from a four-month nighttime communal shelter to a 24 hour/day, 12 month/year program and “has never looked back.” During the COVID-19 shutdown, guests had nowhere to go to keep warm during the day, since most public buildings were closed. Therefore, the shelters stayed open, which gave staff the opportunity to provide counseling, case management, and harm reduction. With the increased support, the program has been much more successful at placing people in permanent housing and has saved lives by getting help for seriously ill patrons and those suffering from overdoses. Care was also arranged for two pregnant people. When guests are placed in permanent housing, continuity of support is maintained by providing a warm handoff to an appropriate social service agency.

McCarthy said the effort has been a regional one, involving shelters in other towns, Amherst Community Connections, the Amherst Survival Center, and the town. The various organizations are working on coordinating their services. Even though Craig’s Doors does not expect to serve more people, they are working to deepen the services that they provide. While the organization looks for a permanent location, full-time services are being offered at the trailer behind the Baptist Church, the University Motor Lodge, and the office on North Pleasant Street. For the time being, the shelter at the Immanuel Lutheran Church remains open.

Trust member Aschleigh Jensen said she hoped there would be a place on the town website where people could click to find access to services they need. McCarthy said Craig’s Doors is currently updating its website and reinstating its Facebook page. Trust Co-chair Erica Piedade noted that the state’s Housing Navigator also lists available affordable housing throughout the state.

McCarthy began his professional life in IT in Hyannis, and then became involved with nonprofit service agencies on the Cape. He was a member of the Board of Directors for the United Way on the Cape, and then decided to enter a Master’s Program in Social Services. While attending school full-time, he worked with Kevin Noonan at Craig’s Doors and assumed the leadership role after Noonan stepped down in May, 2022.