HCA Newsletter

40th Anniversary Stories

HCA was founded by visionary Arlington residents in fall 1986. Every month this year we are sharing a story about HCA.

This month:

The HCA Community Gathered to Celebrate 40 Years!

(Including watching the new HCA Video)

Our hearts are full after Friday night’s 40th Anniversary Celebration. It was beautiful to see so many HCA members — those who first got involved decades ago and those who are new to HCA — come together to joyfully look back and look forward at HCA’s work and how we are meeting our affordable housing and community building mission.

As the event started, people were chatting, enjoying delicious food and drink (thanks to Arlington Brewing for donating their labor to staff the bar!), and looking at the HCA timeline displayed in the hall, showing 40 years of HCA accomplishments against a backdrop of the increase in housing costs. The fabulous local band, Mrs.Jones and a Thing Goin’ On was playing and a slideshow of photos of HCA events and people throughout the years was playing. It included slides thanking our many generous sponsors — you can see who they are on the event page.

Neal Mongold, HCA’s President started the program by welcoming everyone and noting how special it was to be celebrating such a milestone. He introduced the MC’s for the night, Executive Director Erica Schwarz and HCA Board Member Danielle Chery.

The program included the premier of the HCA Video and highlights of current work in HCA’s three program areas: affordable housing development, social services, and civic engagement and organizing — which included an update from the HCA Tenant Council Steering Committee.

HCA Board Vice President Laura Wiener then presented the Housing Hero awards, given to Arlington community members who have gone above and beyond to advance housing affordability in Arlington.

These were presented to Karen Kelleher, for the many, many years she has spent investing time, expertise, and energy to develop and implement policies that have tangibly advanced affordable housing opportunities in Arlington. The Housing Hero award was also presented to HCA’s state legislative team: Sean Garballey, Dave Rogers, and Cindy Friedman for their ongoing commitment to advancing affordable housing, supporting low-income families, and taking action to expand affordable housing opportunities in Arlington. They have done this through their active support of specific legislation and through the effort that each of their offices put in last year when HCA was working to raise adequate funds to acquire 840-846 Mass Ave and 17 Newman Way.

Next, HCA staff members Fenan Samuel and Ellen Roscoe-Bergman presented the Deacon Frank Mandosa Community Service Awards, given to Arlington community members who go above and beyond to support low-income families and unite the community. Awards were presented to Lourie August who recently retired from the Arlington Council on Aging and from HCA’s Homelessness Prevention Program Committee, for demonstrating a deep commitment to the well-being of Arlington residents and dedicating many years of service to helping local families remain stable and thrive.

This award was also presented to the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Arlington, for going above and beyond as a partner during temporary tenant relocations and demonstrating genuine care for Arlington residents and the broader community. General Manager Dakeya Christmas accepted the award.

Awardees and presenters: From Left: Laura Wiener, Ellen Roscoe-Bergman, Fenan Samuel, Karen Kelleher, Dakeya Christmas, Sean Garballey, Dave Rogers, Danielle Chery, Erica Schwarz (holding Lourie August’s Award; Cindy Friedman’s award will also be forwarded to her).

We also took a moment to remembered several local housing and HCA leader who we have lost over the years — Mary Doyle, Brian Greeley, Charlie Lyons, Bob Muray, Paul Parravano, and Ed Tsoi.

To wrap up the night, Select Board Vice-Chair Eric Helmuth, and State Representatives Dave Roger and Sean Garballey playfully engaged the crowd in a reading of the proclamation that the Arlington Select Board passed, naming October 9, 2026 Housing Corporation of Arlington Day! Our state legislature also made a joint proclamation celebrating HCA’s 40th anniversary. Thanks also to Town Manager Jim Feeney, Deputy Town Manager/Finance Director Julie Wayman, Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development, Sarah Suarez, and Select Board Member Joe Solomon for attending the event.

Danielle and Erica closed the program noting how important this work is. How special it is that our community comes together so beautifully to support this mission, and how lucky we all are to do this work in Arlington, where our community brings genuine care and commitment to advancing more equity, affordability, and a feeling of welcome in our town.

The party is over but the work continues!

If you want to get more involved with HCA, there are committees and volunteer opportunities. Just get in touch. Thank you to every person who has cared or acted — even in the smallest way — to support HCA’s work. It all added up to the present moment!

TONIGHT! And Next Week:

The members of Arlington’s Affordable Housing Overlay District (AHOD) Committee are hosting two forums in order to present their zoning proposal to the community.

The proposal would create an overlay zoning district in parts of Arlington that would make it easier and more cost effective to develop affordable housing, by allowing more units on a given lot than is allowed now.

The committee is intending for this proposal to go before Town Meeting for a vote in spring 2027.

Attend tonight on Zoom or next Thursday in person to learn more, ask questions, and provide feedback.

HCA’s Jackson Hamilton Received Rising Star Award!

Late last month, the entire HCA staff attended the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporation’s community development summit. Every year this event brings together staff and members of groups like HCA across our state to celebrate our collective successes, learn about the latest innovations in our field, and connect with each other.

The event also includes awards. This year, MACDC awarded HCA’s Community Organizer, Jackson Hamilton, with the Rising Star Award! This award is given to a staff person at a community development corporation under the age of 40 who has shown exceptional potential, innovation, leadership, and achievement in community development.

The staff was excited to learn about the award, but not surprised; we see Jackson’s thoughtfulness, hard work, passion, and effectiveness every week. Congratulations, Jackson!

Photo from Leise Jones Photography

Pizza Party & HCA Board Vote

We’ve celebrated HCA’s 40th Anniversary,

now it’s time for the annual election of the

HCA Board of Directors.

 

HCA Pizza Party / Board Election!

Tuesday, November 17, 2026

Arlington Community Center — Community Room

7:00 pm

There will be gluten free and dairy free pizza options

Childcare provided. Interpretation provided on request

Let us know if you need a ride

Anyone who supports HCA’s mission and has contributed at least $1 to HCA in the last year, or is an HCA tenant in good standing, is eligible to vote on the HCA Board. Attendees may make a dues contribution at the door that night.

Please RSVP by Monday Nov 16th to:

info@housingcorparlington.org

781-859-5294 x5

Lottery for Affordable Unit at 80 Broadway in Arlington

Note: this is not an HCA unit; we are just spreading the word! This is a restricted affordable home required to be included in this new development by Arlington’s Inclusionary Zoning law; it says that 15% of all new developments of at least 6 units must be affordable.

Click Here for the 80 Broadway Lottery Application

CHAPA Regional Housing Meeting

Each year, CHAPA (Citizens Housing and Planning Association – a statewide housing policy group) convenes housing stakeholders from across Massachusetts to learn directly from those doing the work in their community.

At each meeting, CHAPA staff will share a brief presentation about our work, and then they want to hear from YOU about what’s working in your communities, what can improve, and where CHAPA should prioritize their advocacy in the coming year.

All events are free and open to all; no previous housing experience necessary! Seats for the in-person sessions are limited.

If you have any questions, please contact Lily Linke (llinke@chapa.org).

Greater Boston CHAPA Input Meeting:

October 15th, 10am-12pm

MassHousing

One Beacon St, 4th Floor, Boston MA 02108

Register Here

HCA Real Estate Project Updates

10 Sunnyside Ave

The framing of the 5th and final floor — including the roof — is completed! Framing and building of both stairwells are also nearly done. Insulated sheathing on the building’s exterior is nearly done — that’s being installed as part of our Passive House design, to ensure that this building is extremely energy efficient. Rough plumbing and HVAC work is ongoing, and windows are starting to be installed. Soon we will see roofers on the building, installing the roof. The building should be nice and tight before winter comes, so that this winter, snow should not delay construction progress.

Tenant selection will happen by lottery. The lottery application will become available in February, 2027 and we expect tenant move-ins to start in August 2027. To join the list to receive an alert when the lottery application is ready, email Ellen Roscoe-Bergman, HCA’s Office Manager: eroscoebergman@housingcorparlington.org.

And you can always follow the project’s progress on our website.

Emma’s Court

We are deep into the financing phase — working to raise all of the funds we will need to build these buildings. And we have some great news and a hearty thanks! The Town of Arlington applied for and was awarded a $500,00 Housing Choice grant from the state that will be passed on to directly support the Emma’s Court project budget. We are so grateful for the way our Arlington town government not only talks about the importance of affordable housing, but puts in effort to support it in deep and tangible ways.

We have submitted a pre-application for the state’s next funding round for the tax credits and other subsidies this project will need. And we are getting ready to submit a full application in December. With our pre-construction general contractor Keith Construction, our architect, Utile, and our consultant, David Levy of Community Square Associates, we continue to finalize plans for this 40-unit Passive House certified project, which will be located by the properties that HCA acquired last year at 840-846 Mass Ave.

Learn more about Emma’s Court on our website.

Above: Rendering of Emma’s Court, Building 1 (on left), next to the existing apartment buildings of 840 Mass Ave and 846 Mass Ave. Building 1 and 840 Mass Ave are each L-shaped buildings, enabling a landscaped inner courtyard to be created once Emma’s Court is completed.