As part of an international movement in 20 cities yesterday, an alliance of Boston-area tenants gathered in Roxbury’s John Eliot Square to protest the loss of affordable subsidized housing on what the United Nations declared “National Habitat Day.”
Though the demonstration was part of a larger movement, local tenants living in the Housing and Urban Development building in Roxbury protested out of an urgency to save their own homes.
According to Patrick Coleman, the organizer of the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants, tenants living in the apartments run by the Roxbury Action Program received notice in June of RAP’s intent to sell 51 units of government-subsidized housing in the area to market-rate developers. This would make the housing less affordable and potentially force low-income tenants out of their homes.
Coleman said the ideal solution for this property problem would be for RAP to sell it to another non-profit organization. One such organization is nearby Madison Park, which, according to Coleman, made an offer that was turned down by RAP’s director, Lloyd King.
The loss of privately owned HUD-assisted housing is not only a problem in Roxbury. The National Alliance of HUD Tenants released a summary of the latest data which stated, “A total of 199,764 units of HUD-subsidized affordable housing have been lost nationwide as of August 2001.”
U.S. Representative Barney Frank and City Councilor Chuck Turner attended the protest and spoke out on RAP’s actions and on the larger national issue.
“Shame on a country that won’t take a small percentage of money to keep people in their homes,” Frank said. “If people are allowing you to be kicked out of your homes, your response is to kick them out of their jobs.”
As a tenant of RAP II-B, a RAP building, Melissa Harrell is dealing directly with the possibility of having to move.
“What bothers me the most is that we weren’t consulted or given the opportunity to decide what was best for us,” she said. “I am now being told that I have to trust two irreputable condo developers to empower me whether I like it or not.”
Other groups, including the Chinatown Residence Association, came to demonstrate support and voice their concerns that similar housing trends are occurring in Chinatown.
“People in Chinatown are being displaced. We are the only community that has no voice,” said CRA board member Serene Wong. “The residents only earn an average of $12,000 a year.”
Wong described one housing proposal that would make rent between $1,600 and $3,000 per month for a one-bedroom apartment.
“People that live there will have to move out and the real estate tax will increase,” she said.
Another CRA member, Henry Eyee agreed. “They want to attract people who make $70,000 a year. We welcome people who want to develop, but the rent is too high and they violate zoning.”
In 1973, government contracts were given to developers to keep rents low. Under the subsidies currently being threatened, low-income families pay 30 percent of income and the government takes care of the rest. Market-rate developers would eliminate a layer of the subsidies.
RAP residents have been meeting weekly since the notification in June. Coleman and the Massachusetts Alliance have been researching legal documents with lawyers from the Greater Boston area to see whether or not RAP has the right to prepay the mortgage and sell the apartments. The sale date is Nov. 10.