Affordable Housing
Increasing community control over development in the neighborhood to ensure the availability of affordable housing and to attempt to prevent displacement
Since 2001, our Youth Community Organizers have made great strides in advocating for affordable housing in our neighborhood. They have been involved in various decision-making processes at the city level, concerning the use of empty lots-- big and small-- throughout the Hyde/Jackson Square community. In each of these cases, our youth have petitioned the city government to build affordable housing, preventing local families from being driven out by rising rents and proving increased stability in the community.
In 2005, HSTF youth campaigned against the sale of the Blessed Sacrament Church and its surrounding property to a private development company which intended to build only market rate housing. After months of advocacy, the Blessed Sacrament campus was bought by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Council Corporation in partnership with New Atlantic Properties, a private real estate developer. This collaboration ensures that the church building and its grounds -- located at the center of the neighborhood for decades -- will continue to serve the community with much needed affordable housing units.
Another component of HSTF’s work in affordable housing advocacy is the Jackson Square Redevelopment project, an outcome of HSTF’s ongoing Youth First in Jackson Square initiative. In addition to the building of the new Jackson Youth and Family Center, that redevelopment project will include over 400 units of housing, nearly 60% of which is affordable. In addition, there will be over 60,000 square feet of small retail space available for locally-owned businesses.
The Hyde Square Task Force is committed to organizing against gentrification, which results in the displacement of many of our low-income youth and families. In advocating for affordable housing, we strive to build a strong community that meets the needs of all Hyde/Jackson Square residents.