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Terry Rothermel, President
Nancy McJennett, Treasurer
Charles Phillips, Clerk
Al Armenti
Tom Conway
Jim Craig
Gordon Shaw
The Housing Foundation Board, from left: Al Armenti, Charles Phillips, Terry Rothermel, Nancy McJennet, Jim Craig and Tom Conway. Not Pictured: Gordon Shaw
The Concord Housing Foundation, Inc., (the Foundation) is a 501c(3) non-profit charitable corporation. Founded in 2001 and run by a volunteer Board of Directors, the Foundation’s purpose is to engage in fundraising, community outreach, education, and policy initiatives to support affordable housing development in Concord. Although legally separate and distinct from the Concord Housing Trust, the Foundation raises money for that group and other Town-based organizations that strive to create and preserve affordable housing.
To date, the Foundation has undertaken three fundraising campaigns. In 2006-07, it raised $200,000 to support two developments: 1) the Concord Housing Authority’s plan to build four units of housing on the Ammendolia land for seniors with low incomes; and 2) the Concord Housing Trust’s plan to build a triplex of affordable family units on the Burke land, completed in the fall of 2007. In 2004, the Foundation raised $95,000 from over one hundred donors for Baker Homes, a development of five affordable family units built by the Concord Housing Trust. In an earlier 2001-2002 campaign for the Trust’s twelve Elm Brook Homes, a similar number of donors contributed $235,000.
The Foundation’s newsletter, The Concord Housing News, is published each spring and fall. The newsletter covers topics related to affordable housing, including the activities of the Foundation, the Concord Housing Trust, the Concord Housing Authority, and the Town’s new Concord Housing Development Corporation. The newsletter also provides a preview and summary of housing-related articles that come before Concord’s annual Town Meeting.
In 2004, the Directors and the Board of Advisors decided that the Foundation should take a more active role to support the Town’s affordable housing initiatives. Initially, this new mission took the form of a series of editorial pieces in the Concord Journal. Then, during Town Meeting 2005, the Foundation introduced amendments to three articles in favor of more affordable housing. These amendments were approved by Town Meeting.
In addition to targeted capital campaigns, the Foundation relies on a steady stream of smaller donations from our “Friends of Housing” to help cover expenses for the newsletter, fundraising, and other mailings, as well as for annual filings required of charitable organizations.
In 2006, the Foundation worked with the Concord Housing Trust, the Concord Housing Authority the Affordable Housing Committee, and the Board of Selectmen to draft a charge for the new Concord Housing Development Corporation. The Foundation hopes that the Corporation will successfully fulfill its ambitious charge in the years to come.
The Foundation’s Advisors now meet semiannually with the Directors and provide valuable advice. The twenty members of the Advisory Board are: Nancy Beecher, Nancy Beeuwkes, Nan Conway, Nancy Cronin, George Dallas, Art Fulman, Phil Gross, Jay Keyes, Pat Lauzon, Constance Putnam, Nancy Roberts, Sally Schnitzer, Norma Shapiro, Steve Steinberg, Eric Van Loon, Kate Villers, Phil Villers, Alec Walker, Elliott Wilbur, and Win Wilbur.
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