Housing Choice Coalition
About Us
YWCA The Greater Newburyport Housing Choice Coalition
Upcoming Meetings & Events
The next meeting of the Housing Choice Coalition will take place on Thursday, April 18 at 6 PM at the Newbury Town Library on Lunt St. Our speaker will be Rev. Jared Mercer, pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport. St Paul’s, along with the First Religious Society, have been instrumental in providing housing for 5 Afghan families since they arrived in Newburyport in 2021. Rev. Mercer will give us an update on the effort to obtain permanent housing for these families and will talk to us about how we can support these efforts.
We will have progress reports from our working groups (legislative, communication/outreach, and projects), and will also discuss housing-related news and happenings in our area. I look forward to seeing you all there!
Our Mission
Our Mission is to support housing equity and justice in the Greater Newburyport area. We believe that our community can and should be welcoming and inclusive, with housing options to meet the needs of people of difference incomes, abilities, household types, and stages of life. We support the creation of new housing, and the upgrading of existing housing for households with limited incomes, and/or special needs, and the developments that encourage reuse of existing structures.
The YWCA Greater Newburyport Housing Choice Coalition will actively support policies, zoning changes, developments and projects that will further the creation of housing in Greater Newburyport to address diverse housing needs, including housing for those who work in Greater Newburyport. We seek to collaborate with residents and others who care deeply about Greater Newburyport and want to join us in assuring that our community is thriving, welcoming, and inclusive.
Our History
The Coalition was formed in 2023 as a program managed and supported by the YWCA Newburyport in cooperation with the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). CHAPA is the leading affordable housing advocacy organization in Massachusetts.
Our Communities
The Coalition serves the communities of Amesbury, Newburyport, Newbury, West Newbury, and Salisbury.
Our Team
Our team consists of volunteers from our communities who are committed to the mission of creating more housing choice:
Judy Tymon, Coordinator
Jamie Blackburn
AnnMary Connor
Sarah Holden
Jackie Meers
Marianne Vesey
Pam Wool
Resources
MBTA Communities Toolkit
Find out more about the MBTA Communities Act with this information from “Abundant Housing Massachusetts” by clicking the link below.
Blog – The Journey from Housing to Home
Every Monday, our team produces a column in the Newburyport Daily News dedicated to a housing topic. These topics range from personal stories of local residents who have been impacted by the housing crises, to explorations of various housing topics such as zoning as well as affordable housing resources. Anyone is welcome to contribute to this effort.
Introducing the Greater Newburyport Housing Choice Coalition
January 15, 2024
The RAFT Program
January 22, 2024
Who Qualifies for Affordable Housing?
January 29, 2024
What Does it Mean to Be Cost Burdened?
February 5, 2024
The Legacy of Zoning
February 12, 2024
Habitat – Affordable Home Ownership
February 19, 2024
Natural Occurring Affordable Housing
February 28, 2024
What is CHAPA?
March 4, 2024
What is Section 8: The Housing Choice Voucher Program
March 11, 2024
The MBTA Community Act
March 18, 2024
The Waiting Game for Housing
April 3, 2024
Fair Housing
April 15, 2024
Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Health
May 6, 2024
Meeting Minutes
The Coalition has been meeting monthly since October and will be meeting every month on the third Thursday of each month.
October 25, 2023 – Meeting Minutes
October 25 – Meeting Presentation
December 13, 2023 – Meeting Minutes
Working Groups
The members of the coalition will be working in groups that are focused on various housing aspects of the work to create more housing choice:
Legislative Group
Research and advocate for state and local legislation to support affordable housing.
Education
Projects
Advocate for the creation of affordable housing developments in each community.
Communications
Create material to communicate the activities of the coalition, including news articles and opinion letters
Contact Us
If you’re interested in joining the coalition to advocate for more housing choice in your community, please get in touch by emailing jmeers@ywcanewburyport.org, or calling 978-465-9922 the YWCA Newburyport front desk.
get in touch
facility hours
Mon-Fri: 6 am - 7:45 pm
Sat: 8 am - 1 pm
Sunday: CLOSED