From the Community

Community Servings Relaunches ‘Teaching Kitchen’

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Community Servings, a nonprofit provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition services to individuals and families in Massachusetts experiencing critical and chronic illnesses, recently announced the launch of its redesigned Teaching Kitchen program, a free 12-week hands-on food service job-training program for individuals facing barriers to full-time employment. Beginning in July, classes will resume inside the Learning Kitchen at Community Servings’ “Food Campus” in Jamaica Plain. In a first for the program, many students will be eligible to receive an earned training wage thanks in part to generous support from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Community-based Health Initiative funds, which were recently awarded to the agency as part of a three-year, $500,000 Focused Investment Grant aimed at addressing job and financial security in the community. As they learn food preparation and cooking skills, Teaching Kitchen trainees also help the agency prepare more than 3,000 medically tailored meals that are delivered daily to clients. “Restarting an enhanced Teaching Kitchen program has been a priority for us since March 2020, and the grant support from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center couldn’t have come at a better time,” said David B. Waters, CEO of Community Servings.

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From the Community

Lottery Applications Being Accepted for New Amory Street Income-Restricted Apartments

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Lottery applications are now being accepted for 44 new income-restricted apartments at 25 Amory Street. This is a transit-orientated Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) project that is part of a multi-phase plan to transform land left vacant five decades ago when homes and businesses were bulldozed for a proposed highway. Twenty-nine of the 44 units are 2- and 3-bedroom apartments and are for families. Five of the units are being set aside for homeless individuals, and will be filled by a direct referral by HomeStart, according to 25amory.com. Five of the units are mobility accessible, and one unit is for sensory hearing.

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Development

Turtle Swamp Brewing, Landlord Sue to Stop Low-Income Senior Housing Development

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Turtle Swamp Brewing and its landlord have filed separate lawsuits to prevent a project intended to provide housing to low-income and extremely low-income seniors, as well as a new spot for a longtime neighborhood Latino-owned restaurant. "In short, this development is too big, too close to its neighbors, and does not provide parking or loading areas sufficient to serve the Project," says Turtle Swamp Brewing's lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court. The project at 3371 Washington St. is a joint venture between New Atlantic Development LLC and nonprofit Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), and has already been approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency Board. The project will be five stories of supported affordable senior housing development, which would include 38 units of much-needed housing for low-income and extremely low-income seniors, and an 800-square-foot restaurant space for El Embajador Restaurant, a tenant of the current site.

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Development

8 Condos Available: New Housing Lottery Applications Due by April 23

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The city announced that eight condominiums are going to be sold to all first-time homebuyers through a lottery system. There are several things to keep in mind for applicants:

Homes are sold by lottery
Only qualified applicants will be entered
The property is deed-restricted; owner-occupancy requirements apply
Income and asset limitations apply
You must be a first-time homebuyer
Homebuyers will need to complete an approved homebuyer education course prior to closing
Boston residency preference
Preference for households with a mobility impairment for accessible unit
Preference for households who meet or exceed the number of bedrooms

The condos were built by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC). Below is more information about the units. Income limits for qualified buyers are based on 80% and 100% Area Median Income Limits as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Six condos for households at or below 80% AMI

One 2-bedroom, 1 bathroom units at $221,900
Five 4-bedroom, 2 bathroom units at $288,700

Two condos for households at or below 100% AMI

One 2-bedroom, 1 bathroom unit at $288,700
One 4-bedroom, 2 bathroom unit at $366,900

The 80% AMI 2-bedroom unit is built-out for persons with mobility impairments.

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Real Estate
Inside Blessed Sacrament Church on Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Blessed Sacrament Church Being Sold By Hyde Square Task Force

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The Hyde Square Task Force will be selling the Blessed Sacrament Church property after two years of being unable to find a partner to redevelop it into a community center. The Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) purchased the property in 2014, and has been carrying $500,000 in debt, and expenses for the building cost more than $100,000 annually, according to a press release. In 2014, HSTF provided a tour of some of the closed-to-the-public areas of the church. "Dedicating our resources, solely, to meet the needs of our youth is the only way we can fulfill our core mission and that is why the HSTF Board of Directors voted to sell the former Blessed Sacrament Church,” said HSTF Executive Director Celina Miranda. The original plan was for a performing arts center with space for community events, but a 2019 request for proposal seeking investors failed to generate interest.

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