2010 Annual Report

Local Highlights

Boston

From catalyzing comprehensive community development to collaborating with CDCs to address strategic challenges, Boston LISC is a leader in Greater Boston’s community development network. We help community developers cultivate safe, healthy, prosperous neighborhoods by:

Catalyzing Comprehensive Community Development

Boston LISC launched Resilient Communities/ Resilient Families, an initiative modeled on LISC’s Building Sustainable Communities effort. Our initiative will make multi-year community investments in Codman Square/Four Corners, Mattapan, and the Warren Street Corridor.

Building Community Capacity

Boston LISC provides leadership to the Mel King Institute for Community Building, which has trained 400 community development practitioners from 100 organizations since 2009. We invested $150,000 in a Strategic Challenge Fund and $250,000 over 5 years in the Catalyst Fund for Nonprofits to support collaboration, strategic mergers, and innovative business models.

Supporting Affordable Housing

Affordable housing continues to be a core focus for Boston LISC and we deploy loan capital in a strategic and innovative manner. Projects include: $1,750,000 acquisition and predevelopment lines of credit to support 260 transit-oriented affordable homes; a $1,000,000 loan and $7,000,000 in New Markets Tax Credit investments to support the conversion of the Blessed Sacrament parish into a vibrant, mixed-income community; and $300,000 in grants and financing to support St. Polycarp Village, LEED-silver, green affordable housing development.

Greening Our Neighborhoods

After securing a $1,000,000 grant, Boston LISC launched the CDC Green Retrofit Initiative, an energy-conservation program that promotes cost- effective and environmentally sustainable affordable housing. Over $4,800,000 in retrofits are completed, underway or planned for 2,074 affordable homes. Additionally, over 5,000 affordable homes were benchmarked for energy and water efficiency.

Leading Community Development

In 2008, Boston LISC launched the Community Development Innovation Forum with our partner, the Massachusetts Association of CDCs. The Innovation Forum has convened public forums on communications, environmental sustainability, collaboration, and funded a report on the financial health of CDCs in Massachusetts. It has become a center for policy discussion and development.