HACbeat, August 2022

HAC beat

A newsletter from HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION

Vol. 31, Issue 28

AUGUST 2022

Innovative THRIVE Program Will Assist Cape Workforce

INSIDE A Tribute to Board Chair Peter Muise

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Editorial by Alisa Magnotta

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Retrospective: HAC Prevents Evictions, Foreclosures

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Danzl Recognized for Leadership in Eviction Diversion

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Oysters, Champagne and Nearly $400,000 for Housing 6 THRIVE Program Will Assist Cape Workforce

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Coming Soon: Brewster Woods

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Back to the Streets for the Walk for Hope

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Charter Cup Fishing Tournament Reels in Funds

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Donor Spotlight: David and Gail Oppenheim

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Upcoming Classes and Workshops

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Launched in June at Cape & Island United Way’s Best Night, Housing Assistance’s new THRIVE program will provide essential housing support for those employed in the childcare industry or those working with people with developmental disabilities.

Every day, Housing Assistance receives calls from people who have goodpaying jobs but are unable to find a rental. “We are losing our locals faster than we are building housing for them,” said Housing Assistance CEO Alisa Magnotta. “This gap in inventory creates an affordability gap at epic proportions.”

Born out of the desire to help our workforce be able to remain on Cape Cod, Housing Assistance created an innovative program to assist the housing affordability gap while offering economic mobility opportunities to essential employees who play an essential role in our economy.

Story continued on page 8

Community pays tribute to Housing Assistance board chair Peter Muise.

Story on page 2

EDITORIAL

A Tribute to Board Chair Peter Muise Housing Assistance mourns its board chair, Peter Muise.

one of the founders of Rise Up for Homes, a fundraising and

He passed away on July 6 after a long battle with cancer and post-

advocacy organization to support ending homelessness. He also

transplant complications.

served as the co-chair of the South Coast Regional Network to

His legacy will live on through his loving family and our work housing our community. Peter was deeply loved and will be missed terribly. We are grateful for his kind, curious, and enthusiastic leadership. He worked closely with Alisa to transform Housing Assistance during the CEO transition and over the course of his tenure.

End Homelessness. Alisa Magnotta, Housing Assistance CEO, remarked, “The housing community lost a great advocate. Peter was remarkably generous, especially with his expertise and insight.

I will miss his coaching and business acumen. He made me a better leader – and HAC

Muise joined the Housing Assistance board in 2017. When

a better organization.” Ray

Housing Assistance discovered there was no loan product for

Tamasi will succeed Muise as

people to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that counted

Housing Assistance’s board

the rental income when calculating their ability to repay, Muise

chair. At the recent Oysters

responded in his role at First Citizens and created one. That paved

and Champagne fundraiser

the way for other banks to follow suit with similar loan products.

for Housing Assistance, Tamasi honored Muise. “If I had to Peter, at the 2021 Oysters & think of one word to describe Champagne fundraiser a man like Peter, it would be courage,” said Tamasi. “I hope to be half the guy he was as chairman.” The board will deliberate on how to appropriately recognize Peter’s contribution and legacy at a future meeting.

“His approach to charitable giving was one of concern for the people and curiosity about the root cause of the problems facing the community. He was a problem-solver.” Magnotta said.

Everyone who met him would describe him as kind and fair, proving one can rise to the top of one’s field without sacrificing integrity. Peter was a man of character, with a strong moral ecology – he lived his values clearly and consistently.

As the president and CEO of First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union, he was dedicated to helping his community, especially on housing issues. Peter was an executive committee member of

“We want to do something that matches his significance to HAC and something his family can be proud of. We cannot bring him back, but we can make sure his memory lives on.”

Muise is survived by his wife, best friend, and partner of 50 years, Robin (Fitzpatrick) Muise, three children and nine grandchildren.

the Homeless Service Providers Network in New Bedford and

When There’s a Mismatch Between Perception and Reality

by Alisa Magnotta Facts matter. However, often we use our intuition or perception to form opinions and make decisions. There is a phenomenon called the graveyard spiral whereby distorted thinking overcomes a pilot and they slowly tilt the plane into a deadly spiral. Despite accurate readings on their instrument panel, they trust their own gut about where the horizon lies. Accurate information is right in front of them, but they choose to trust their instincts rather than the data on the instruments.

That distorted way of looking at information can play out in other situations. I have had this disconnect while driving. I spend an hour on the highway and then get off at an exit and drive through a residential area. My senses tell me that I am driving slowly, but the speedometer is clocking 40 in a 25 mph zone.

I see that mismatch between perception and reality sometimes when I hear people talk about the Cape’s housing market. There’s a false belief that we can keep things the same – in life, and in our housing market – by doing nothing. That is demonstrably false, as we are losing our workforce due to high-priced housing and a lack of year-round rentals.

The data and our direct experience interacting with businesses this summer show us how things are changing – for the worse. Some businesses are closed more than they are open in the middle of the summer money-making months due to the housing shortage.

Access to critical goods and services is becoming increasingly challenging, as predicted in our 2018 report, “Housing on Cape Cod: The High Cost of Doing Nothing.” Lines are longer than ever at your favorite restaurant or ice cream shop because there are so few workers available. “Help wanted” signs can be spotted in the windows of about every store and restaurant.

Because the Cape is in a booming travel and tourism period, our instincts might tell us that things have never been better, but here are a few things our instrument panel tells us.

We regularly see households making a combined income of $200,000 struggling to rent or buy.

The situation is worse for anyone who makes less. They are forced to leave the Cape in search of a place to live – and a better cost of living. We don’t have the visual clue of the dozens of families moving out every weekend because everyone is spread out over 15 towns and many more neighborhoods. But our office sees wave upon wave of displacement crashing upon our shores, eroding the fabric of our communities.

The first steps in solving a problem are recognizing and accepting the facts. To ignore the threats to year-round housing would be like steering the Cape’s economy into a graveyard spiral.

With six new housing units built in this country for every ten new families, a more significant course correction is needed to get ahead of this trend. You can be sure that all of us at Housing Assistance will continue to strive to find new and more effective ways to help our neighbors have a stable place to call home, including some strategies outlined in this newsletter, like our new THRIVE program and our housing development projects underway.

Ultimately, however, because it is illegal to build anything other than single-family zoning (with notable exceptions), our community and workforce are spiraling toward extinction.

Until and unless we address our underlying zoning, the crisis will continue to worsen. Our next issue will be a special edition focusing on Advocacy and what we are doing to tackle such reforms.

Until then, enjoy summer on Cape Cod,

Rental vacancy on Cape Cod is less than 1 percent when 5 to 7 percent is considered healthy. We literally have zero year-round rental capacity.

The Yawkeys were perhaps best known for their longtime ownership of the Boston Red Sox. More quietly, but with just as much passion and commitment, Tom and Jean Yawkey were also engaged in an unwavering dedication to those most in need. It is in that spirit that the Yawkey Foundation supported Housing Assistance with a generous grant, which helped support work in homelessness prevention, housing stabilization, empowerment and advocacy.

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Want to buy? It is not any easier. In June, the median sales price was $710,000 for a single-family home, according to the Cape Cod and Islands Association of REALTORS®. A recent report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that the income needed to purchase a median-priced home in Barnstable ($188,419) was higher than in Boston.

Alisa Magnotta, CEO

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AFFORDABILITY COVID Retrospective: Housing Assistance Prevents Nearly 2,000 Evictions and Foreclosures During Pandemic In early 2020, when a new illness called COVID locked down the country and people were laid off from their jobs, the calls for help began pouring in at Housing Assistance. Already the “housing emergency room” for the Cape and Islands, the Housing Consumer Education Center faced unprecedented volume as people lost their jobs or had working hours reduced during the pandemic. Over the next 27 months, Housing Assistance prevented homelessness for a remarkable 1,764 households.

That means an average of slightly over two households per day were saved from the devastation and disruption of losing their housing. From March 23, 2020, through July 1, 2022, Housing Assistance distributed $9,919,497 (an average of $5,635 per household) to keep hundreds of renters and homeowners impacted by the pandemic in safe, stable housing.

But numbers only tell part of the story. For Andrew Biro, who moved to Pocasset shortly before the pandemic and lives in an accessory dwelling (ADU), the assistance meant everything. He lost his job at a marina during the pandemic and when supplemental unemployment insurance ended last year, he struggled to keep up with his bills.

“I’m 52 and I never thought I’d be asking for help just so I could keep a roof over my head,” he said. “The staff at Housing Assistance was like, ‘We know where you’re coming from.’ I hit

this fork in the road and the people at Housing Assistance helped me get back onto the right course.

“They deserve a double pat on the back.

When I called with questions, people were respectful and pleasant. When they lay their heads down at night on the pillow, I hope they have a good night’s sleep and they have sweet dreams because they deserve it with all the people they help.”

Sally Apy, who lives in an Edgartown apartment, was another emergency rental assistance recipient. She said pandemic aid made the difference in being able to keep her housing.

“It’s hard to ask for help, but in this situation, it was sink or swim,” she said. “When COVID hit, I was delivering flowers, which meant going door-to-door and being in close quarters with customers. That stopped and I was out of work and trying to figure out what to do next.

“When I contacted HAC, there was so much understanding and compassion. It felt like we were all in this together. I felt very well supported by the whole process.”

For over a year, there was either a state or federal eviction moratorium in place, meaning the funds distributed also had a stabilizing effect on mom-and-pop landlords who may have otherwise been forced to sell their property.

Prior to the pandemic, Housing Assistance was already administering the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development’s RAFT (Residential Assistance for Families in Transition) and HomeBASE financial assistance programs.

Housing Assistance also had its own private prevention program that had been in place for about 30 years.

Households saved from eviction or foreclosure during the pandemic.

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“When the pandemic happened, there was a lull at first in client activity because nobody was leaving their home,” said Cassi Danzl, Housing Assistance’s chief operating officer, who rose through the ranks of the organization as she played an increasingly important role in its success during the pandemic.

“Then we realized, this isn’t a two-week thing. We’re going to be dealing with this for a while. At the same time that businesses were struggling to survive the shut-downs of the summer of 2020, the housing market was taking off like lightning.”

Housing Assistance created and launched a workforce housing relief fund, to service households at a higher average median income (AMI) than the DHCD programs allowed.

“We were worried about people who had experienced a change in income because of a layoff or reduced hours,” said Danzl.

Danzl Recognized for Leadership Role in Eviction Diversion Cape & Plymouth Business magazine recently selected Housing Assistance COO Cassi Danzl as one of the

“Even though they were higher than 50% of the AMI, their income had changed, but their expenses had not. We were concerned about people in that bracket needing assistance and not being able to qualify for the state and federal programs that historically have given aid to folks under 50 or 30% AMI. As time moved on, DHCD launched a program that was for households between 50 and 80% of AMI, so we were able to use state funds for that population.”

40 Under 40 honorees, which

Then came ERAP (the Emergency Rental Assistance Program), a federal pandemic relief program.

assistance program and put in place a comprehensive Eviction

“The federal money was insightful in recognizing that there was a vast difference in housing costs across the country,” said Danzl.

“A $5,000 benefit in Kansas was going to be very different from a $5,000 benefit in Boston or on Cape Cod. When they created the legislation, they put in a limit capping the number of months versus amount of dollars. That allowed us to backfill the rental cost with amounts that we had never seen before and may never see again.”

recognizes the region’s top young business leaders who excel in their industry and show dynamic leadership. She was nominated by her colleagues at Housing Assistance in part for her eviction prevention accomplishments.

As the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) began to scale up its emergency rental Diversion Initiative during the pandemic, it quickly became clear that operational input was required as policies were being designed by the state.

Stefanie Coxe, Housing Assistance’s new chief external affairs officer, was at the time the executive director of the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts (RHN), a trade association representing the regional agencies administering the program. “Organizations on the ground like Housing Assistance were seeing four to five times the volume of calls with the same staffing and the old program rules for RAFT required an average of seven hours start to finish to process one application,” she said. “We needed to dramatically reduce that.” RHN called for the convening of a “small group” of

Pre-pandemic, we normally served a little over a hundred households annually with between $250,000 and $350,000 in emergency rental assistance. From March 2020 through this June, which is a little over two years, we helped 1,752 households with almost 10 million.

– Cassi Danzl

administrators and DHCD staff and Coxe’s first call to join that group was Danzl.

“Cassi knew the program rules inside and out and she knew how to think through the real-world operational implications of policy decisions,” said Coxe. “She spotted some significant problems with proposed policies that could have gummed up the works statewide and prevented us from being successful.”

The program served around 7,000 households annually; scaling up to meet pandemic level demand was a major challenge. The end result of the collaboration between the state agency and administering non-profits was a program that prevented over 100,000 evictions statewide during the

Danzl says her team worked extremely hard, knowing that if someone lost their home in this housing market, it was very likely that they would not be able to find another on the Cape.

“It was challenging to balance what had worked for the region for the last 30 years and what we were anticipating the region was going to need for the pandemic and then scaling that up,” she said.

“It was kind of a thought experiment that was going to have very real and very significant consequences if we weren’t right.”

pandemic.

While Danzl was helping RHN influence statewide policy, her value at Housing Assistance did not go unnoticed by CEO Alisa Magnotta.

When the pandemic started Cassi Danzl was Housing Assistance’s director of family and individual services. Two years and two promotions later, she is the organization’s chief operating officer.

Danzl will be honored at the 40 under 40 awards on September 15.

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Oysters, Champagne and Nearly $400,000 for Housing Inspired by the story of a mother who went from homelessness to homeownership with the support of Housing Assistance, donors exceeded expectations at the 5th Annual Oysters & Champagne fundraiser.

Close to $400,000 was raised to support Housing Assistance, a big jump from the $270,000 raised at last year’s event. One donor who couldn’t attend the event came by the Housing Assistance office that afternoon to drop off a check for $25,000.

Harris spent the last two years working on the COVID floor at Cape Cod Hospital – which received a round of applause from attendees - and now works in a memory care unit near her home in Bourne. She shared her gratitude for the support she’s gotten over the years and said she is still in shock to be a homeowner.

The theme for the evening was Community, Compassion, Capital.

The three Fundraising Ambassadors for the event spoke to this in their remarks.

Housing Assistance client Melissa Harris shared the story of her journey from homelessness to homeownership with the audience of about 200 people.

Dan Wolf, founder & CEO of Cape Air, said he lives in a remote area of the Cape, where storms often leave roads blocked by fallen trees.

“I know what it’s like to have your electricity turned off,” she said.

“I know what it’s like to feed your kids with a box of spaghetti and a stick of butter for a week.”

“Every single time there’s a storm, someone shows up with a chainsaw,” he said. “The housing crisis is the storm we all face as a community.”

Harris once lived at Housing Assistance’s Village at Cataumet Shelter in Bourne with her then 3-year-old son. She later lived in rental housing with voucher supports. Harris never stopped working, but needed assistance to live on Cape Cod, as the rents were always out of reach for her income.

Referring to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Dorothy Savarese, executive chair of Cape Cod 5, said that some people are suffering from ‘compassion exhaustion’. “But when compassion meets reason, it is very rational. Compassion is refusing to turn away from challenging situations.”

In April 2021, she was able to purchase a home for herself and her two children in Bourne though Housing Assistance’s Cape Community Real Estate.

Tony Shepley, founder of Shepley Wood Products, asked Melissa Harris to stand with him as he applauded the courage it took for her to speak in public and share her story, as well as the courage it takes to continue working where people are most needed (like the COVID floor at the hospital), when they might make more money doing per diem work elsewhere.

“Housing is not something that’s going to fix itself,” he said. “Do we want to see what happens or do we want to do something?”

The following major supporters contributed that evening in the range of $10,000 to $35,000 and we are deeply grateful for the impact of their donations.

Steve Barr • Peter Freeman • Joe and Devonia Keller • Bruce and Karen MacGregor • David and Missy McGraw • Ann and Peter McKay • David and Gail Oppenheim • Michael and Area Princi • Jon & Sarah Vanica Special thanks to our Fundraising Ambassadors for presenting a Community Match Challenge at the $100 level.

Annual Corporate Sponsors Foundation Sponsors

Premier Sponsor

Visionary Sponsor Visionary Sponsors

Champagne Sponsors

Oyster Sponsors

We remain grateful to our Fundraising Ambassadors for inviting our attendees to make a difference.

Thank you to our Host Committee for helping to make this such a successful event, year after year!

Dan Wolf, Founder & CEO, Cape Air Dorothy A. Savarese, Executive Chair, Cape Cod 5 Tony Shepley, Founder & President, Shepley Wood Products

Ashley Baker & Dave Miller • Sherry & Bill Bogdanovich • Kristen & Chris Boyd • Lindsay Cole & Christoper Ward •Alison Grove & Eric Weinberg

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Innovator Sponsors

Pearl Sponsor

In Kind Sponsor

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AFFORDABILITY

INVENTORY

continued from cover

Coming soon: Brewster Woods

THRIVE – Tools to House Residents in a Vulnerable Economy – comes after a successful pilot program in 2021, in which participants were able to reduce debt, start savings accounts, improve their credit, or create plans for eventual home ownership.

THRIVE participants will receive a fixed subsidy ($450 per month for up to 24 months) paid to their landlords, increasing the affordability of their housing costs. They will work with a housing counselor to set financial goals, with the intention of reducing expenses and/or increasing household income.

“THRIVE helps to solve two problems: workers making too much to qualify for most ‘capital a’ affordable housing programs but not enough to afford market rate housing; and ensuring critical workers remain employed on Cape Cod,” said Magnotta.

“Childcare is a critical underpinning of a sustainable economy.

The displacement of these workers would cause other industries on the Cape to collapse. I felt it imperative for HAC to respond proactively.”

Community support for THRIVE got off to an impressive start, as donors at the United Way’s Best Night event on June 26 pledged $75,000 during the “fund a need” portion of their signature annual event, immediately matched with $60,000 from the Cape and Islands United Way Ronald Reed Endowment Fund and $50,000 from the Bilezikian Family Foundation.

Photo: Salty Broad Studios

The Cape and Islands United Way board of directors made 2022 a year to make an impact addressing housing challenges. The collaboration with Housing Assistance Corporation came about after the United Way reviewed several projects for ‘fund a need’ and recognized the impact THRIVE could make in the lives not only of workers, but of the greater community and economy. “Many households have the recipe for success but need a boost,” said Mark Skala, president and CEO of Cape and Islands United Way. “The combination Greg Bilezikian with Alisa Magnotta at of coaching and a voucher will the Cape and Islands United Way’s Best empower and transform lives.”

Night event in June.

“In addition to the subsidy, the educational offerings in THRIVE will help employees improve their housing stability and financial mobility in the long run,” said Greg Bilezikian of the Bilezikian Family Foundation.

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Demand was high when Housing Assistance conducted a lottery for spaces at Brewster Woods, a new affordable apartment complex that’s expected to welcome residents in October.

A total of 248 households applied for the 29 apartments. David Quinn, Director of Housing Development & Planning for Housing Assistance noted that demand was particularly strong for onebedroom apartments.

Applications and more information are available at haconcapecod.org/thrive

The support from the United Way patrons, board of directors and the Bilezikian Family Foundation will help cover THRIVE’s funding during its first year. The United Way Board match comes from its Ronald Reed Endowment Fund. Reed was a longtime banker and philanthropist on Cape Cod. The second year of THRIVE will be primarily funded through an ARPA grant that was secured by State Senators Julian Cyr and Susan Moran.

“For only $6,000 a year per family, we can make the difference between local workers being displaced and being able to continue to live and work on Cape Cod,” said Magnotta. “Donations to THRIVE directly support the Cape community and economy.”

“As we continue to lobby the state for better compensation for direct care workers, THRIVE offers a critical bridge for our employees, who work with a vulnerable population,” said Anne McManus, executive director of Latham Centers. “Like many businesses, we have lost a number of employees because they can no longer afford to live on the Cape.”

Brewster Woods was built through a partnership with Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH). The environmentally friendly complex includes off-street parking, central laundry, tenant storage, on-site management & 24-hour emergency maintenance.

On average, when utilities are included, you can expect the price to increase by $200 to $400 per month.

“The completion of Brewster Woods represents the culmination of years of hard work and collaboration between the Town of Brewster, the Brewster Housing Authority, HAC, and POAH,” said Quinn. “It will bring 29 new units of affordable housing on to the market at a time when they are sorely needed.”

Monthly rents (including utilities) are expected to be $1,094 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,312 for a two-bedroom apartment. Housing Assistance’s data shows market-rate rentals are significantly higher. To help extremely low-income households, residents of 7 units will pay only 30% of their income thanks to Section 8 Project Based Subsidies.

The project began in 2015 when Housing Assistance was awarded the RFP by the town of Brewster for a property set aside for housing in the 1990s. Housing Assistance CEO Alisa Magnotta said, “Development can be complex. We had great partners in POAH, and we’re grateful for how helpful the town of Brewster has been in bringing this project online.”

Childcare staffing shortages, largely caused by the housing crisis, have led to long waits for working families.

“When we lose an employee, the families served by that individual face losing childcare, which in turn disrupts their ability to do their job,” said Stacie Peugh, president and CEO of YMCA Cape Cod. “This Housing Assistance initiative will increase the ability to retain year-round employees, reduce the stress on those employees and have a multiplier effect on the broader economy.”

Those interested in contributing financial support for THRIVE may contact Anne Van Vleck, Housing Assistance’s chief development officer, at avanvleck@HAConCapeCod.org.

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ADVOCACY

Back to the Streets for the Walk for Hope Due to COVID, last year’s Walk for Hope was a virtual event, with people walking on their own at the time and place of their choosing. Therefore, this year’s in-person Walk for Hope was a chance to celebrate togetherness.

Walks took place simultaneously on May 22 in Orleans, Hyannis and Falmouth. With 298 walkers, including 35 teams and 752 donations, Housing Assistance raised more than $130,000 to increase access to critical housing services.

“We remain grateful and inspired by our generous community,” said Housing Assistance CEO Alisa Magnotta.

The top individual fundraiser, Rich Bryant of Cape Associates, Inc., and top team fundraiser, Osterville Baptist Church, were

Our workforce should never have to worry about having a safe and secure place to live.

walk

honored at a post-walk Celebration at Cape Cod Beer a few weeks later.

“Our church has been on a journey, getting more involved with community issues and concerns,” said Pastor Rob Wheeler of Osterville Baptist Church. “We’ve done some exploration and it seems very apparent that housing is a big issue. People can’t meet their basic needs for housing.”

Walkers were joined by housing leaders in government: state representatives Sarah Peake (4th Barnstable District ) and Kip Diggs (2nd Banstable District) and Falmouth selectboard member Onjalé Scott Price.

Housing is the foundation for a happy and healthy life, and all of us, in all of our communities, deserve to have that strong foundation.

GIVING 6th Annual Charter Cup Fishing Tournament Reels in Funds for HAC Held on a steamy July day, the 2022 Charter Cup Fishing Tournament raised about $390,000 for local charities, including nearly $10,000 for Housing Assistance.

The anglers support a favorite charity while having a friendly competition to see who can bring in the largest striper and bluefish. The event is led by Cape builder E.J. Jaxtimer. “I was born and raised on the Cape,” he said. “I love helping the community and that means working hard on behalf of our nonprofits.”

The Housing Assistance fishing team was sponsored by Coastal Medical Transportation Services LLC and Maffei Companies.

Members of the team were captain Bob Maffei, first mate Scott Swaylik, Ron Winner (Housing Assistance board member), Kristen Broadley, Laurie Bowen, Deb Forbes, Alexandria Sacco and Amy Searle.

– Falmouth Selectboard Member Onjalé Scott Price

David & Gail Oppenheim

A Cape Cod resident for 50 years, David Oppenheim has seen many changes – and shifts in housing costs and availability are among the most worrisome. Over that time, “It’s continually gotten worse and now it’s terrible.”

He and his wife, Gail, who recently sold the Chatham Wayside Inn after 29 years, see the issue through the eyes of employers.

“No one who owns a business is unaware of the problem,” he said. “Over the years, we’ve been able to help employees find and secure housing, but now we’re at a point where even somebody who’s doing very well can’t find housing. It’s not just the affordability, it’s the availability.

“For a working person who’s making reasonably good wages, even if their credit’s good, it’s just impossible.

There’s a woman who works for me who just sold her house, and she can’t find an apartment to live in. She can afford an apartment; she just can’t find one.”

Causes focused on housing, food and healthcare are the main things he and Gail contribute to, he said. “That’s where it has the most positive effect for the community.

There are so many things that you can support, but from our standpoint, it’s about children and families having a place to live and food to eat, and everything else comes after that.

– State Representative Kip Diggs

We need to say: Yes in My Backyard!

(YIMBY)

Donor Spotlight

Caring for our community takes heroes of all kinds

Concerned about the seriousness of the housing shortage, David and Gail attended Housing Assistance’s recent Oysters and Champagne fundraiser (see page 6).

Thanks for all you do.

– State Representative Sarah Peake

“I guess the good news is it’s in everybody’s face, and a lot of towns and people are working hard on solutions,” he said. “Housing Assistance is a great organization, really at the forefront, and that’s why we’ve been contributing to HAC for years.”

From left: Ron Winner, Alisa Magnotta, E.J. Jaxtimer, Deanna Bussiere

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Upcoming Classes and Workshops All classes are virtual unless otherwise noted. Learn more and register at HAConCapeCod.org.

Housing Services Overview

First-time Homebuyer

HomeSafe

Housing Assistance provides a variety of housing programs and services. Learn about all we offer.

Overview of the homebuying process. Topics include money management, mortgage loan programs, insurance and more.

Fulfills the post-purchase education requirements and provides a forum to share experiences with other homeowners.

September 21 and 24

September 27 and 29

October 25

October 11, 13 and 18

Money Matters

Grow Smart Map Workshop

Advocacy

Free two-night workshop that will help you set financial goals, make a spending plan and identify ways to create an emergency fund.

Learn about a mapping project that identifies priority areas for natural resource protection and affordable moderate-density housing development.

Learn more about how to engage on local decisions around housing and learn what’s happening in your town.

September 23 October 13

Housing Happy Hour – Advocacy 101 workshop: September 29, 5:30 – 7:30 PM

October 11, 13 and 18

IN PERSON

September 7 and 14 October 4 and 6

SAVE THE DATE: Housing to Protect Cape Cod Summit

Organized by Housing Assistance, the Cape Cod and Islands Association of REALTORS®, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, CapeBuilt Companies, and the Homebuilders and Remodelers of Cape Cod.

Pre-Town Meeting Roundup: October 12

November 3 – IN PERSON

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