A letter from Yun-Ju Choi, CBA's Executive Director
From Coalition for a Better Acre’s April 2020 newsletter. Sign up to join CBA’s mailing list for newsletters, updates, and invitations to events.
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I hope you and your family are connected, safe, and healthy.
As we adjust to life in a health crisis, connection takes on a whole new meaning. The staff at Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA) are grateful for our continued connection with the Acre Community. CBA has been a trusted name in the Lowell community for 38 years as an affordable housing developer and leader in resident engagement and empowerment. During the 2020 response to the Covid-19 pandemic, CBA has adhered to state health protocols and streamlined its operations, connecting with residents of CBA properties first.
Thanks to capital funding awarded by the Smith Family Foundation in 2019, CBA staff are equipped with laptops and Microsoft Office 365, giving us the capacity to work remotely. With these technology updates, staff have been able to meet, collaborate, and execute projects remotely. Their primary focus has been to connect with residents of CBA properties.
By mid-March we had begun the process of contacting 236 Acre families and program participants. Staff provided up-to-date guidance on social distancing and invited residents to share their concerns and feelings. During these conversations CBA Program staff surveyed residents to determine their needs. Resident responses helped CBA shift its work to identifying, connecting to, and delivering resources. In the first week, 15 families received boxes of food provided by the Merrimack Valley Food Bank that was retrieved, packed, and delivered by CBA staff. In the second week of food delivery, CBA is well on its way to providing 40 families with food.
Throughout the early days of the pandemic response, I have stayed connected with local community leaders to determine how to best leverage CBA’s ability to support the Greater Lowell community. CBA’s commercial tenant and workforce development partner, UnWrapped, has shifted its operations to produce 10,000 PPE units a day to be used by healthcare workers.
As families have transitioned from school closures to at-home learning, I have offered our support to Lowell Public Schools to ensure students are set up for success. Currently, we are seeking funding support increasing internet access and provide tablets or laptops to students learning at home.
As of April 1, CBA’s current real estate operations are progressing with construction of our 44-units of veteran-preference housing in Haverhill, predevelopment of addiction recovery housing on Merrimack Street, and financing for 9-units of veteran housing in Dracut. CBA and our partners will continue its real estate operations under the state and federal-level guidance.
CBA is grateful to all who have come before to ensure that hundreds of Lowell families are secure in quality housing during a health crisis. As we recognize the abundance of resources and support available in Lowell during ordinary times, we must prepare to adapt to a new reality of community development. Supporters like you have allowed CBA to deepen our engagement with the Acre and expand our reach outside of it.
Yun-Ju Choi