Get involved!
There are plenty of ways to get involved in BNCLT in the upcoming months
Membership
Interested in defining membership at BNCLT? Contact chuang@bnclt.org for more information
Upcoming events
Join us for a celebration!
Sunday July 24th 4-7pm
We will meet at 381 Park Street, Dorchester for a cookout, garden harvest, and celebration of the public art initiative happening this summer at the vacant lots.
Join us for a tour of our properties!
Saturday, Aug 6th, 11am
Come join us for a tour of BNCLT and visit our community-controlled land and housing! We will meet at 381 Park Street at 11am--a vacant lot the neighborhood is transforming into a community space. We will then visit other BNCLT properties, including 349 Park Street, and then a walk to Leroy Street to see two more properties. You'll hear about: our organizing to activate the neighborhood; an energy retrofit project; and descriptions of our buildings and CLT model.
CLT Orientation for new residents will be Wednesday August 3rd on Zoom
Please email Cole at chuang@bnclt.org with any questions about upcoming events
Take Action!
TOPA has been voted out of committee favorably! This is a huge step forward and keeps TOPA in play this session. We are not done yet and need to make sure that TOPA is attached to the economic development bond bill. We have heard that there may be some roadblocks in the Senate, so we’re asking that you help us in the final push.
We are also joining Greater Boston Community Land Trust Network and others in support of a Small Properties Acquisition Funding Pilot that was added into the Economic Development Bond Bill. This proposal would create a new fund to purchase 1-8 unit buildings for the preservation of affordable housing.
Ways to take action before July 8th:
Sign the petition to pass TOPA, featuring this video: Time4TOPA - YouTube
Call your Representative and Senator to support TOPA & Small Properties Acquisition Funding Pilot (click here for a call script)
Share this TOPA video on social media (click here for sample tweets and graphics)
Read and share these recent op-eds on TOPA:
Sizzling Summer Updates at BNCLT
We are having an energizing summer: bringing people together through events, tours, workshops and organizing! We are excited to share with you the latest BNCLT updates, news articles and upcoming events.
BNCLT acquires another property!
On June 13th, BNCLT closed on another occupied building in Dorchester: a triple decker at 14 Leroy. We are delighted to welcome the residents into our CLT! This spring, Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center awarded BNCLT a Triple Decker Energy Retrofit grant to convert 14 Leroy into a high efficiency, all electric affordable building.
Celebrating 6 Humphreys!
On June 22nd, dozens of community members joined the celebration to mark a momentous victory shared by tenants, organizations, community allies, city officials, lenders and individual donors—when we work together, we can fight displacement. This was a day to celebrate the acquisition of 6 Humphreys by BNCLT to be permanently affordable, as well as a day to honor the years of struggle and sweat so many from the community expended to make sure the residents of 6 Humphreys Place could stay in their homes. This victory was a long time coming since the tenants have been organizing for over 4 years to stay in their homes.
The atmosphere was festive with balloons and streamers; a tuba player; and familiar faces reuniting as everyone gathered behind the building for delicious food cooked by 6 Humphreys resident Eric Boyd. BNCLT co-hosted with City Life/Vida Urbana, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, and the residents of 6 Humphreys Place. We spent the evening with so many who played a part in this story over these years—a remarkable demonstration of community coming together to realize this outcome. This was a celebratory night to thank the numerous players: Dorchester Not For Sale, Asian American Resource Workshop, the City of Boston, the Life Insurance Community Investment Initiative, Boston Opportunity System and our “Last Mile Donor”!
A dynamic speaker line up moved the crowd with shared stories of overcoming displacement, including: Alma Chislom, BNCLT Board President and resident, Denise Matthews-Turner, the Co-ED of CLVU and BNCLT Board member; 6 Humphreys Place residents Jean Paul Doh and Eric Boyd; City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune; Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon; Meridith Levy, ED of BNCLT; and Sharon Cho and Markeisha Moore of DOT NOT 4 Sale. This was a day of excitement and gratitude for many years of hard work from so many people dedicated to the cause.
Activating 381 Park Street!
On June 26th we had an awesome community potluck! Park Street residents, including neighbors who had lived on the street for many years, gathered to share dishes including home cooked food from Trinidad and delicious barbeque chicken. With the donation of a grill to the cause, our potluck became a cookout as well with the summer smell of grilling inspiring neighbors to come by with burgers and dogs. Kids got involved in drawing and arts and crafts.
Louisa Winchell is our summer graduate student fellow from Tufts University Urban & Environmental Planning and Policy.
We did a vacant lot visioning activity led by Louisa, who had posters and printed packets to gather input on various brainstorming questions about the past, present and future of the Park Street lots. This activity, based on Monument Lab's Field Trip Activity, helped us learn about each other. We found out who had been on the street for the longest, and some common experiences and concerns about the neighborhood. Finally we had our first live music performances on the newly constructed stage in the back of the lot. The spoken word, hip hop, and jazz guitar performances brought so much energy to the crowd. The musicians were awesome and the atmosphere was festive, promising more events to come! We had performances by guitarist Jack Kern, spoken word poet Durane West, and Adim Leir on Instagram @kinrosscommunitycenter
Louisa: This summer, I am supporting BNCLT, artist John Ewing, and Park Street neighbors in developing the "Placing Park Street" public art project, which is one of several efforts BNCLT is using to activate the vacant lots at 381 and 357 Park Street. As part of this project, I am researching the history, present, and future of these two vacant lots as threats to, or tools of, community control. The community potluck was a great opportunity to meet residents who live on Park Street, including people who have been here for 20, 34, 35, and even 44 years! Between performances, crafts, and delicious homemade foods, longtime residents shared stories about the building that used to stand at 381 Park Street and burned down in the 1980s, and "hippies" that used to hang out on motorcycles at 357 Park Street in the 1970s. I am looking forward to learning more about the community's story of, and vision for, these vacant lots!
City of Boston Voucher Program
This month, BNCLT will employ 11 new project-based vouchers from the City of Boston, with more to follow with future acquisitions. This is a game-changer, and provides financial stability to the properties and residents, ensuring deep affordability for our residents.
In the news
Check out this article in the Dorchester Reporter featuring the celebration at 6 Humphreys Place: Humphreys tenants hail ‘galvanizing’ win against displacement- Dorchester Reporter, June 29, 2022
BNCLT joined peers from the Greater Boston CLT Network to give testimony to the Small Properties State Acquisition Funding Pilot, as documented in this Op Ed: Working to keep people in their own homes- Bay State Banner, June 30th, 2022
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