Harborlight Homes: An Organization Update

It is a great honor for all of us, supporters, board members, staff, and community members to work together to operate and create economically accessible housing for seniors, essential workers, and those with disabilities. The market conditions within which we pursue these goals are currently challenging. 

At this point we are focused on a number of risks while continuing to operate and develop high quality houses with on site supportive services. 

Please reach out with any questions: adefranza@harborlighthomes.org 

1. Current Buildings: 
   1. All our current buildings are operating as normal. 
   1. Our main concern is what if anything could happen to various rental voucher subsidy payments that residents and Harborlight depend on to keep the rent to the resident very low while maintaining the quality of the building itself. This is especially true for fixed income seniors. At this point there has been no problem here and we are continuing business as usual while paying attention to any changes. 
2. Current Services:
   1. We provide a wide variety of services for frail fixed income seniors, formerly homeless families and individuals, and those with disabilities. Many of these services are provided and/or funded through our great partners like Element Care, Senior Care, GLSS, Pathways, the YMCA, or Lifebridge.
      1. These services are continuing at this time. There is concern that if programs themselves receive funding cuts and/or if our residents see some type of benefit change, especially related to health insurance, that this could impact what services are available. 
3. Current Development: 
   1. We are finishing construction right now in Ipswich, Beverly, and Lynn. These buildings are moving along well and we expect them all to be complete and occupied in the next 6 months. 
   1. We also have 2 other sites that are permitted and funded: one in Hamilton and one in Rowley. 
      1. Those two locations are in process but will be impacted by any changes in the market including interest rates, construction costs, and housing funding. These are moving slowly to the starting line and we are pursuing the goal of starting one late this year and the other mid 2026. 
      1. We also have 5 sites that are in the planning and permitting stage including Ipswich, Beverly, two locations in Gloucester and one in Salem.
         1. We are concerned about market impacts as described above on the pace of progress. The projects likely will not start until 2027 and likely will not finish until 2030+.