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     SPRING 2017 NEWSLETTER      
Project Manager Andrew Weesner at Coppersmith site after demo work 
REAL ESTATE NEWS            

Coppersmith Village: The demolition work at Coppersmith Village will be finished this month. The old factory and warehouse buildings have been completely removed. Foundations are being poured and the outlines of the buildings can be seen! This exciting project will create 71 new homes, and a new restaurant for East Boston foodies. The mix of housing is comprised of 15 for-sale town-homes along Liverpool Street (7 market rate and 8 units affordable from 80-100% AMI) and 56 apartments in two buildings facing Border Street (about 27% market rate with the rest affordable up to 60% AMI). The restaurant space of about 3,000 sf at the corner of Decatur and Border Streets will have harbor views.  

East Boston Acquisitions:
NOAH has continued working with the City of Boston/DND to buy multi-family units on the market in East Boston, looking to keep rents affordable for the working families who live in them and combating ongoing gentrification in the neighborhood. We thank Mayor Walsh, DND and Community Housing Capital again for their support. This important program helps retain resident families in East Boston, despite rising housing costs, due, in part, to a rash of out-of-town investors speculatively purchasing properties and then increasing rents or evicting tenants. By the end of this month, NOAH will have purchased eight triple-deckers housing 24 families who have been able to remain in their homes. If you have any leads concerning this exciting program, please contact Phil Giffee at pgiffee@noahcdc.org.

Kayakers Landing at the Urban Wild 
BATTLE OF NODDLE'S ISLAND RE-ENACTMENT & REGATTA
 

Thank you to all 250 attendees and to everyone who volunteered at our Third Annual Battle of Noddle's Island Re-enactment & Regatta event on June 3rd. Kudos to the NOAH Community Building Department staff! A great time was had by all, despite the pesky wind and a few clouds. The festivities took place at the Condor Street Urban Wild from noon to 3 PM, with th e kayaking fleet leaving earlier from LoPresti Park and making landfall at the Urban Wild. The now yearly celebration is a fun family event serving to highlight the little-known Battle of Noddle's Island, an uncelebrated important victory for the Revolutionary Army against the British in 1775.  
The Coast Guard Fire Boat!

Members of the local community came together earlier this month to remember the important role East Boston played in the Revolutionary War, while also helping to kick-off the summer season! Free activities included: kayaking lessons; children's games, including making and flying kites, making model boats, and face-painting; and a barbecue with lots of food! The corn was gone within an hour, and all 200 hamburgers and 150 hot dogs were consumed by the crowd soon after!  
 
 Leo Ramirez Flanked by IRS VITA Volunteers    
HOMEBUYER SERVICES UPDATE

One of NOAH's many services includes coordinating free bilingual VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) tax preparation activities during
NOAH's Jaselia Gratini & Diana Franco with MassHousing's Angelo Nuby at CHAPA Meeting
the tax season. In 2017,  this service line prepared and submitted taxes for 151 families with a total of $274,220 in tax refunds, for an average of $1,816!      

Dates and times are listed in the 'Upcoming Events' Calendar below for the Homebuyer (HBS) Services Dep artment's high-impact, bilingual, low-cost First-Time Homebuyer courses, no-cost Foreclosure Prevention and Miti gation workshops, as well as free Financial Capability workshops . If you are interested in learning more about our Homebuyer Services a ctivities, please contact Director Diana Franco at 617-418-8266 or dfranco@noahcdc.org

WORK FINISHED AT 440 MERIDIAN PROPERTY!   
 
... And upon completion!
Starting siding work... 

The final improvements at NOAH's 440 Meridian Street building in East Boston are now complete. Here are before and after photographs of the new vinyl siding and lead removal work at the property. This was the last component of the Shalom Properties rehabilitation project. Kudos to Property Management Director Mal Nelson and his great team! And many thanks to the City of Boston Lead Prevention Program for its unique funding. It solved a huge problem, and it looks beautiful! 

      Maura Camosse Tsongas    
MORE NEW FACES AT NOAH! 

NOAH has hired two new full-time staff members. Our new Real Estate Director, Maura Camosse Tsongas, comes to NOAH with extensive experience in community development and in working in Boston neighborhoods. She started her career as an instructor and later program director at Thompson Island Outward Bound in Boston Harbor where she worked for ten years facilitating groups.  Maura later earned her Master's in Urban and Regional Policy from Northeastern University and spent seven years working (at the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development) in communities throughout Massachusetts to develop affordable housing. She also holds an MS from the University of Wisconsin and a BA from Mt. Holyoke. Maura serves as Chair of the MACDC Real Estate Peer Group. We welcome her diverse urban and suburban experiences.  
 
Gabriela Boscio
NOAH's new Climate Change Manager, East Boston resident Gabriela Boscio, has a BS degree in Environmental Studie s and MS degree in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability. She has also studied at the Center for Ecological Living & Learning in Iceland. Gabriela interned at Ecowatch and at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. She has supported climate program teams and the implementation of collaborative grants, along with performing communications and fundraising work at Second Nature. Gabriela is fluent in English and Spanish.

Please join us in welcoming our talented new staffers!    
NOAH CITC UPDATE       

Thanks to Governor Baker and DHCD, NOAH has been awarded another $150,000 in Community Investment Tax Credits (CITCs) for 2017, receiving the maximum level of CITCs allocated for each of the four years of the program. With its prior three years of CITCs, NOAH realized a net total of $761,329, which has enabled us to  make significant progress towards our long-term Community Investment Planning/Strategic Planning objectives. Utilizing CITCs, donors making a donation of $1,000 or more receive half back (50%) in state tax credits or rebates.  And, depending on their federal tax bracket, a $325 final net donation can work like a $1,000 donation to help NOAH offer free or very low cost programming to seniors, disabled individuals, families, and children in need.  If you are interested in finding out more about this program, please reach out to Linda Miller-Foster, Director of Fundraising, at 617-418-8246 or linda@noahcdc.org.  
ThankYous
MANY THANKS TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS!
 
All of us at NOAH want to say THANK YOU to all our wonderful recent funders, including: the Boston  
Redevelopment Authority, Bushrod H. Campbell and Adah F. Hall Charity Fund, Capital One, Citizens Bank, City of Boston, Conservation Law Foundation, Lauren DeMayo, Charles H. Farnsworth Trust, Harvard Memorial Church, HUD, Massachusetts Division of Banks, MIRA, the Nature Conservancy, NeighborWorks America, Pacific Union Financial, Save the Harbor-Save the Bay, TD Charitable Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley, and an anonymous donor. Without our many great supporters, we could
 
June 2017 'Deloitte Day' Volunteers at 'Our Garden' 
not maintain our client services or programs at their current high levels. With them, we continue to create and maintain more sustainable neighborhoods, community services and affordable housing than ever before. We want to give a special shout-out to Citizens Bank for its wonderful ongoing support of our Financial Literacy programming and to The Kresge Foundation for its generous funding of the East Boston ClimateCARE resiliency work. And, as always, a great big THANK YOU to long-time funding partners NeighborWorks America and United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley.
June 2017 'Deloitte Day' Volunteers at the Urban Wild 
We'd like to include another big THANK YOU, as well, to all our dedicated volunteers. Pictured: One of the teams from Deloitte, volunteering at the Youth Our Garden site in East Boston on Border Street. Thank you to all of our supporters!    
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PLEASE 'LIKE' US ON FACEBOOK!

NOAH's Facebook page has 3,658 Likes! If YOU
haven't done so already, we would really appreciate it if you would go to our Facebook page through the link below, and click the "Like" button - THANKS!
 
And, did you know we have two great Facebook groups?
 
 
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Events Calendar Pages
UPCOMING EVENTS

First-Time Homebuyer Classes
The next Spanish First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on three consecutive weeknights, Tuesday through Thursday, June 27, 28 and 29, from 6 to 9PM. The next English First-Time Homebuyer course will meet on three consecutive weeknights, Tuesday through Thursday, July 18, 19 and 20, from 6 to 9PM.

Students learn from industry guest speakers, including home inspectors, as well as from NOAH staff, about how best to select and purchase a home and about appropriate loan products. Also, we are offering individual online course sessions in both English and Spanish. For more information, please contact Dept. Director Diana Franco at 617-418-8266 or dfranco@noahcdc.org

Loan Modification/Foreclosure Prevention Clinics
Our next free bilingual Loan Modification/Foreclosure Prevention clinics will occur on the following Monday evenings: June 19 & 26 and July 10, 17, 24 & 31, from 5:30 to 8PM at NOAH. These workshops are the initial counseling and education sessions for NOAH's foreclosure prevention and mitigation counseling. The sessions are held in Spanish and in English. All of NOAH's foreclosure prevention education and counseling sessions are free of charge. Workshops are held weekly, except for holiday weeks. For additional information, please reach Carrie Tennant, Esq. at 617-418-8264 or ctennant@noahcdc.org.

Financial Capability Classes
The next free FinCap course will be held on Saturday, June 24, from 9:30AM to 3:30 PM and finish up on Monday night, June 26, from 6:30 to 9:30PM.
Concurrent classes are held at NOAH, with one in English and one in Spanish. For more information, please contact Department Director Diana Franco at 617-418-8266 or dfranco@noahcdc.org.
 
Soccer Tournament!
There will be a free NOAH soccer tournament at Lo Presti Park in East Boston on Saturday, June 24, from noon to 6PM. There will be food, refreshments and music! Teams must have 8-11 players to participate, and should register by June 17th. Please call 617-418-8241 for more info or to register.   
 
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