Letter: Affordable housing needs representation on CPC

Article 37 switches 1 of the 4 at-large seats on the CPC appointed by the Select Board with a seat to be appointed by the Affordable Housing Trust.

The categories of projects that can utilize CPA funds and which the CPC can decide to recommend to Town Meeting or not are: Open Space/Outdoor Recreation, Historical Preservation, and Affordable Housing.

Right now, there is no representation for Affordable Housing from any official Town Board/Committee/Trust.  The other categories, Open Space/Outdoor Recreation and Historical Preservation have representation on the CPC via seats reserved for the Conservation Commission, the Recreation Commission, and the Historical Commission.  

While the Grafton Housing Authority has a seat, what the Housing Authority does is very different from the Trust.  The Housing Authority manages existing public HUD housing for low income only individuals and families.  Because HUD has decided not to create any new additional builds in our area, the Housing Authority has no mechanism to request and spend CPA funds.  This would naturally fall to the Affordable Housing Trust as the only entity in town that can request funds for Affordable Housing, which includes both low and middle income families.  The Trust does not have a voting seat on the CPC while the other committees do for their respective categories.  It only makes sense to provide that voting seat to the AHT as well.

As a senior advocate,  a large portion of my time is spent on senior citizens facing homelessness due to evictions, losing a spouse and unable to support a home alone or the everyday increase in funds to keep up a home. It’s real and it’s here in Grafton.

My first go-to is relocation is with family members, that is rarely an option anymore as many  of the younger generation are also struggling financially. Grafton doesn’t have any “emergency housing.”  Affordable Housing only considers a case as an emergency if the senior is already homeless. It’s a huge problem that should no longer be ignored. Time to poke the bear. 

As we face a housing affordability crisis in Grafton and Massachusetts in general, there is no better time for the town to get better representation on CPC for Affordable Housing with a permanent, voting seat.

Lisa Kelley

Affordable Housing board member