What's New

Doing even more to revitalize Brockton

Welcome Home Program

We built three homes in 2007 as part of the Welcome Home Program. When complete, our Tenant Selection team selected qualified disabled/homeless families to live in the new homes.

YouthBuild Collaboration

We have an ongoing partnership with YouthBuild, which finished construction of another affordable home at 36 Walnut Street in 2007, bringing the number of available YouthBuild homes to three. After we conducted a lottery, three working families in our Family Self Sufficiency program left public housing to become new homeowners.

Rescuing vacant properties

Local home foreclosures intensified in 2007. Our professionals, together with our partners, moved into action, securing grants of $600,000 from the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Foundation, $600,000 from the state Department of Housing and Community Development and   $100,000 from Mayor Harrington. The Rockland Trust Co. also committed financing of $1,500,000. In 2008, we are using these funds to buy and rehabilitate six vacant foreclosed buildings in order to house 18 families.

Development momentum

These latest accomplishments build upon recent collaborative projects that include:

•  Revitalizing the Pleasant Prospect neighborhood (where 50 affordable homes, including private development, were built between 1999 and 2007).

•  The continuing collaboration with YouthBuild, which reached the goal of building two affordable homes per year in 2006. This partnership's additional benefits include construction training for at-risk young people, and transition to homeownership for qualified BHA residents.

Economic Development

The BHA leads projects and collaborates with other organizations to ensure a continuing supply of affordable housing for Brockton working families. Such housing is key to revitalizing neighborhoods and supporting a vibrant business climate. When working families have the opportunity to live in and support the local economy, that, in turn, attracts businesses that need both employees and customers. The BHA continues to support economic development through a number of housing initiatives.

Ongoing collaborations with organizations such as the Old Colony YMCA's YouthBuild program, the Brockton Redevelopment Authority and the Brockton Mayor's Office continue to produce results, transforming blighted areas and vacant lots into attractive homes for working families that enhance our city's economy.