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ABOUT US
ABOUT MA CREH
MASSACHUSETTS COALITION FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN HOUSING is a movement of affordable housing developers, advocacy organizations, lenders, community-based organizations and committed advocates.
We are trying to rewrite the system we all are part of.
As a coalition, we understand our actions can develop and reinforce the status quo. We choose to work wherever possible to dismantle racial inequities.
Together, we will bring forward new racial equity tools for housing policy, practices, and processes. We believe this is the work to end racial disparities in housing.
We came together to build a movement and take action for racial equity in housing. Our first task: Through community-led gatherings and community-informed processes to create a rubric outlining concrete steps to achieve racial equity in our sector.
Our regular meetings over two years led to consultations and focus groups, practice dialogue, and critical reflections on race and housing. We developed a sign-on and compact where we explicitly stated our values and strategies.
OUR MISSION
The coalition is made up of individuals who want to see tangible results in their respective fields, which drives a focus on outcomes in lending, construction processes, underwriting, and policy. Where there are divergent perspectives on the rubric’s audience, there is special cohesion on its being actionable and relevant to everyone at the table today. The rubric’s first iteration should focus on tangible outcomes for its specified users, with broad goals of sector transformation and a new movement.
OUR VISION
Our vision includes two critical principles for racial equity: wealth building and inclusive housing opportunities.
Black Wealth Building
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s critical Color of Wealth report groundbreakingly illustrated racialized wealth disparities. It has informed our work as practitioners and throughout the rubric.
Inclusive Housing Opportunities
An inclusive housing agenda recognizes that achieving racial equity in housing requires ensuring quality housing opportunities in both historically redlined and disinvested communities that Black and brown people have been directed, and in many cases confined to.
Fair housing and lending policies and practices advance inclusive housing by dismantling barriers to housing choice, promoting residential integration, and repairing the harm that has been and continues to be inflicted on people and communities of color.
We view our work as a constant evolution and progression: focused on the process of our movement-building rather than the outcomes of a meeting.
WHO WE ARE
The coalition is made up of individuals who want to see tangible results in their respective fields, which drives a focus on outcomes in lending, construction processes, underwriting, and policy. Where there are divergent perspectives on the rubric’s audience, there is special cohesion on its being actionable and relevant to everyone at the table today. The rubric’s first iteration should focus on tangible outcomes for its specified users, with broad goals of sector transformation and a new movement.
The following individuals contributed to this creation of the Racial Equity in Housing Rubric:
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Shirronda Almeida, MACDC/Mel King Institute for Community Building
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Carolyn Chou, Asian American Resource Workshop
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Symone Crawford, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
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Andrew JM DeFranza, Harborlight Homes
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Teronda Ellis, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation
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Soni Gupta, The Boston Foundation
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Rachel Heller, Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)
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Lisa Joyner, TD Bank
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Karen Kelleher, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Boston
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Gail Latimore, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation
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Marvin Martin, Action for Equity
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Helen Murphy, The Boston Foundation
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Gina Patterson, Boston Medical Center
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Amarillys Rodriguez, Planning Office of Urban Affairs
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Travis Watson, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
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Kenneth Willis, Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
Throughout the development of this product, many contributors shaped its direction including Keith Fairey, Aida Franquiz, Jarred Johnson, Rosa Ordaz, Anabelle Rondon, Monique Scott-Megag, and Bob Terrell.
