CDI has decades of experience helping residents become member-owners of their homes and communities, from organizing residents, negotiating buyouts, securing financing, to identifying public funding sources to make infrastructure improvements. Our experienced advisors also help train and coach resident-owners to successfully run their communities.
CDI launched its HOPE (Housing Opportunities for People and Equity) Program in April 2023, allowing CDI to expand our cooperative housing expertise to new geographic areas, including urban communities such as Boston.
A shortage of housing options, high interest rates, and other factors have made it harder and harder for working families to access affordable and quality housing in our region and the rest of the country.
Creating and preserving affordable, cooperative housing is part of the solution. In a housing co-op, a group of members collectively own the buildings or land they call home. The residents are members and owners. Together, they elect a board and decide what the budget will be, what the rents will be, and how they want their communities to be run. There is no middle-person or outsider increasing rents to make a profit.
Housing cooperatives can be a fantastic, affordable alternative to other existing housing models.
HOPE supports the development of new housing cooperatives and strengthens existing housing cooperatives across the Northeast, including providing technical assistance, research, and connecting housing cooperatives with public funding sources. Support for Boston’s income-restricted, multi-family housing cooperatives and tenant-controlled developments has been a large part of the program’s work.
The HOPE Program was recently tapped by the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) in Massachusetts to provide technical assistance and perform research on the status of affordable housing cooperatives in Boson. CDI published the HOPE Program’s research findings in January 2023. Read the full report here.
HOPE is led by Shana Siegel, whose experience includes research and evaluation, community outreach, fundraising, board training, conflict mediation, and supporting boards of directors on all aspects of developing and running a housing cooperative.
If you are interested in making a donation, partnering with HOPE, or are seeking assistance, please reach out to Shana at ssiegel@cdi.coop.
