Seeking Public Comment on NSP2 Application
Boston Community Capital is proposing to file a competitive grant application seeking $50 million in funding under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Our proposed program will provide mortgage financing and assistance to homeowners and renters who have been affected by foreclosures. It will also provide financing to individuals seeking to purchase foreclosed properties as owner occupants. The program will target low- to moderate-income residents in the areas hit hardest by foreclosures in the following cities: Boston, New Bedford, Fall River, Worcester, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Chelsea and Everett. Boston Community Capital seeks comments regarding the content of our application from all interested parties.
Read more about our proposed program.
Submit comments.
BCC Celebrates Solar Energy Advantage Program
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons "Flip the Switch" on Program Increasing MA Solar Capacity by One Megawatt
The Solar Energy Advantage Program, created in partnership with the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, State Street Bank and Borrego Solar, is installing 5,000 rooftop solar panels at five affordable housing facilities serving 3,000 residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the first phase of BCC’s Energy Advantage Program, established to finance energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental improvements for affordable housing. Once construction is complete, the solar installations in Phase I will provide one megawatt of solar photovoltaic capacity and annually will generate almost a million kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity. That’s an increase of roughly 17% in Massachusetts’s solar capacity. In addition, they will cut over 1.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year, or 12,000 tons over 20 years.
Read more.
BCC on TV and the Web
City Fresh, a portfolio company of Boston Community Venture Fund, was just profiled on PBS's NOW. Click here to see the segment, titled "Meal Plan," which includes an interview with BCC's CEO, Elyse Cherry.
Elyse Cherry also recently sat down for a podcast on Ethical Investing and Globalization with The Christian Science Monitor's Laurent Belsie. Click here to watch or download the video.
BCC Recognized as National Leader in Anti-Predatory Lending Practices
This June, Boston Community Capital was recognized by the Calvert Foundation as one of five “U.S. leaders in promoting affordable housing/responsible lending solutions to help thwart predatory lending and mortgage foreclosures.”
Calvert Foundation Executive Director Shari Berenbach said: “As the heavy toll of predatory lending and mortgage foreclosures ravage communities across New England and the nation, Boston Community Capital and its affiliate Aura Mortgage are national leaders in the neighborhood-by-neighborhood fight to promote more affordable housing and squeeze out predatory lenders. We are pleased to recognize their work."
Read the press release.
BCC Launches Aura Mortage Advisors to Combat Predatory Lending
 More than two million sub-prime home loans made in recent years have already failed or will end in foreclosure, costing homeowners as much as $164 billion. One out of five sub-prime mortgages originated during the past two years will end in foreclosure. Moreover, the current statistics appear to be the tip of the iceberg as billions of dollars in adjustable rate mortgages are now resetting in a higher interest rate environment. These issues have a disproportionate impact on low-income communities, affecting not only individuals who fall prey to predatory lenders but also their neighbors as increasing foreclosures lower property values.
To address these issues, Boston Community Capital has been actively involved in working with a cross section of companies, individuals and policy makers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in a multi-pronged strategy that addresses the programmatic, policy and legislative challenges that create a climate that has allowed predatory lenders to operate. This May, we are proud to launch a new venture that we believe is one component of the solution – Aura Mortgage Advisors, LLC, a mortgage brokerage business designed with low-income individuals and communities in mind. Through this non-profit BCC affiliate, we will introduce consumers in low-to-moderate income communities to a smarter way to buy their home.
Learn more at the Aura Mortgage Advisors website.
Read the press release.
BCC and Partners Receive $5 Million Grant from Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust
This summer, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust Program announced that Boston Community Capital has been awarded a $5 million grant in connection with the organization's Green Affordable Housing Initiative. Boston Community Capital, in partnership with Massachusetts Housing Partnership, New Ecology, Inc. and Urban Habitat Initiatives, will use the grant funds
to create a replicable model for the financing of affordable housing that incorporates renewable energy, energy efficiency and green design.
For the Energy Advantage Program RFQs and more information, please click here. To view the first round of Q&As (released September 12th, 2007) for the Energy Advantage Program RFQs, please click here.
Read more about BCC's Energy Advantage Program and Green Building Production Network.
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