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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=y0Juyrdxh40

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partners. Welcome everyone. Um, this is such a wonderful room of so many partners and so many community members and there's so much power and energy in this room. So, I feel bad cutting off the conversations, but we do want to um get together and uh honor

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this really important moment. So, welcome everyone to Mildred C. Haley. It's so exciting to be here today um in one of the buildings where we're celebrating the delivery of 223 new homes. Um

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as as we know that's 91 replacement um homes deeply affordable for public housing residents and then an additional 132 mixed income middle-income housing. And so you know this is just the beginning. By the end of this project, we're going to have delivered 600 new

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homes. Um and and we're also doing deep retrofits on some of the other housing on Heath Street. So, in the end, with support from the mayor and so many state partners, city partners, we're um really going to have given everyone at Miltit Haley the housing that they deserve. Um,

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I wanted to actually switch up our program just slightly and invite um, councelor Weber and our delegation of um, counselors and state senator Miranda to come up and join him just because um, there's a bunch of legislative bodies in session imminently. So, we wanted to let

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them just say a word of welcome before they have to go to that uh, people's business. So, councelor Weber, if you want to come up. Good morning. >> Good morning, >> Bondia. Buas, >> it's so grateful as Senator um Senator

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Miranda. I was like, it's so grateful to be with Senator No. So, so it's so grateful to be in this packed room. And for any of you that have ever been in the Cole Center, isn't this a damn good improvement? I was like, you got the technology and

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the basketball courts. Good work, community builders. Anyway, it's good to join you this morning as we celebrate the ribbon cutting of two of six two and six Lambertine and the first phase of the transformative redevelopment for

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Mildred C. Haley apartments community. Let's give our round of applause for that. I'm with my city colleagues and all of us. They have their council meeting today and I have uh Commonwealth Heroine. So, thank you to the uh ED former counselor. Um let's give it up to

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her for all the work that you've done in the short time that you've led BHA Kenzie. She's got the coolest name in politics. But I just want to say a couple of words that today is is not just about opening a building. Uh it is

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about investing in people. It's about preserving community and creating opportunities for generations to come. We know that housing is the foundation upon which families actually build the stability and often pursue their dreams and that's where communities can

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actually thrive. This redevelopment represents a major commitment to that very vision with approximately 690 apartments planned, including the one for one replacement of all existing public housing units. Let's give it up

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for that. And the additional affordable and mixed income homes. This project actually demonstrates what is possible when we prioritize equitable um development and ensure that long-term residents can remain rooted in the neighborhoods that

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they love. So, thank you, mayor, uh for leading us down this charge. I want to take a moment to recognize the legacy of Aname Cole. If you knew anything about Anime Cole, she had a posi. And those Posi members, there are many family members here. When I walked in, I

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saw the daughter of my friend and she's like, "I'm the great granddaughter of of Anime Cole and her grandson is here. If you guys could stand up so we can give you a round of applause. Where are you guys?" Maybe they're still in the hall. OH,

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THERE. LET'S GIVE IT UP. SO, we know the legacy. The legacy lives on. She was a tireless advocate, a community leader, and a champion for the residents of this very neighborhood. She understood that strong communities are built when residents actually have a voice and when people come together to

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care for one another. Her leadership helped shape this entire community and her legacy continues to inspire those around us. As we've already cut this ribbon, we not only honor the physical transformation. When I was driving in, you could see the difference between the

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old Brmley and the new Brmley and now Mildred Haley. It's taking place all around us. But the generations of residents and organizers and leaders like Anime Cole, they fought so hard to ensure this community would see this day that they could continue to grow and thrive and remain in a place

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where families can actually call home. So, thank you to all the partners, thank you to my colleagues, thank you to the residents, the advocates, and community members who actually made this possible. I look forward to seeing the continued progress of this redevelopment and the opportunities it will create for the

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people of JP and beyond. Congratulations and thank you. Uh, sure. Just quickly, my name is Ben Weber. I'm the District 6 city counselor. Uh, really I you know I think today is about all the hard work that came before uh

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and and all the people who stepped up to make this a reality and I just wanted to recognize I know you know here in Jamaica plane uh you know we know we're better when we work together and and and even our our nonprofits work together so this is really you know we've got three

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incredibly powerful organizations working here the JPNDC TCB and Urban Edge and yeah I just want to thank um for for coming together and working with the city and our state uh you know officials here and making this a

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reality. So thank you very much. Hi everyone. Uh Ruth Luian at large city counselor and thank thank you. I'm just uh want to echo my colleagues in that this is a win for the residents but this is also a push by the residents and want to honor Ana Cole. Want to honor all of

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the residents who have been pushing to make sure that we have a community that is thriving. What every thriving community what it means to have a thriving community is to have housing to have opportunities for people. And I think that this is what we're creating. So, shout out to all of the residents. Shout out to the leadership in the city

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city, to Mayor Woo, to former mayor Janie. Um, I saw Rep Rep. Sanchez made sure he got his ribbon because these right there in the back because these these projects are never just about one person or one leader. They take time. Unfortunately, when the government

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involved, it takes a lot of time. And so, we need more government funding for this type of housing, for social housing, for mixed income housing to make sure that we are taking care of uh very lowincome folks. But I just want to like uh council Weber stated, shout out to all of the nonprofits, all of the community leaders who are working

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together to make sure that this room and these efforts are what we're doing in the city of Boston. So just shout out to everyone who made this possible. Thank you. >> Morning everyone. My name is Henry Santana. and I have the great honor of being one of the Atlar city councilors

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and I'm also a BHA kid as someone who grew up in an Alice Taylor BHA apartments um not too far from here um this is extremely personal to me um I grew up in public housing um and now as an atlar city counselor I always say our public housing residents

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deserve to be invested in and I'm glad that we have a mayor and we have an administrator and administrator Bach who do just that um And um I know I see so many residents um across the room here, too many to name. Um but as someone who

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grew up in BHA, I know how much it is to advocate on behalf of BHA. Um and the loving community that we have. I do want to give a special shout out to one of our young people. I don't know where he is. Danny, are you in the room right here? Yeah.

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I I see myself and Danny um every single day um as someone who really cares about this community and really cares about our BHA kids. I actually just met a resident who's 100red years old um right like um it's just great and you can feel the

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energy. You can see how packed this room is. Um and that's because we care about our BHA residents and our BHA residents deserve to be invested in. We need more housing. Um, and this project does just that. So, I just want to thank everyone who's already been thanked. Um, and it's an honor to be here. Thank you.

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>> Thank you. >> Thank you so much um to all of our legislators. It's amazing to have so much support um from all of them. I it's been acknowledged just now, but I just I want to I want to really echo the fact that this is a site that has just been the home to resident leadership for so

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long. Um so long. I was I was just I was just uh we were just talking about Erlene Blakeley who wrote to President Eisenhower about getting this development together and funded. And I just and you know at the BHA we have a number of staff who grew up here who were part of the tenant management

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corporation. There's just a huge history of tenant leadership. And so if before we continue, we could just get everybody who is a resident or has been a family member of a resident at Milard Haley to either stand or or raise your hand as you're able. Everybody

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thank you so much. And you know, as as one marker of that resident leadership, um we're really thrilled to be opening this new beautiful Anna Mle Center, which is a community center named after a resident who was just so dear to us and such a fierce advocate for her community. Um

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and it's uh you know, it's hard that she's not here today, but as um as her daughter was saying to me, she she is here with us. Um over the course of her life, Anna dedicated herself to advocating for her neighbors and creating opportunities for generations of children that have called this

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community home. And in the late 1960s, alongside the late Mildred Cy Haley and many others, um Anna co-founded the Brmley Heath Tenant Management Corporation, which became the first tenant-run public housing management corporation in the United States. Um she also brought Yeah. Can we can we cheer

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for that? She also, you know, brought healthc care, youth programming, free breakfasts, recreational programming to that to the prior community center, which was originally called Brmley Hall, um, before it was named after her. Um, and so we're just so glad to have another iteration of the community

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center that's really able to honor that tradition. I I had the um the honor of being at her funeral service and I just would say the number of people related and unrelated to Ana May Cole whose lives were just completely changed and

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shaped by her is is unbelievable. Um and it really like spread out and shaped a whole city and a whole generation. Um and so you know as we celebrate this today I do just want to um have her family stand um anime Cole's family that's here with us and ask

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and and and we wanted to um and if I could invite Sher up to join us um we just wanted to uh offer her these flowers as a token of our appreciation for the legacy of her family. So um we have so many partners here today uh and you know from the community

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builders to the Jamaica plane neighborhood development corporation, Urban Edge Housing Corporation and the Mildred C Halealley Tenant Organization. Um, and uh, you know, we're going to have a lot of thank yous, but I really wanted to first of all make sure that we

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were welcomed into the space um, by Yolanda Torres, the president of the tenant organization here. Um, we're just so glad to have an organized group of presidents. So, Yolanda, you have the floor. >> Good morning, everyone. But I need my

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tennis organization be with me, too. So come over here. Yeah, definitely because I can't do this with them neither because we are a strong team. So they have to be here. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Nice.

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All right. So like I said, good morning. My name is Yolanda Torres. I'm proud to say that I'm a resident of Milder Haley of Hardman and also serve as the presidents for the Milder Haley Tennis Association. I want to acknowledge today there are

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others board members here where they're right here with me. So, thank you for being here. And I would say I first became involved in the tennis organization 2018 and has been a wonderful experience to

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witness the change in the community involvement through the years. I'm the kind of person who loves to communicate with people. So it's been a great fit. I would like to thank everybody, everyone

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here today who made this possible. to the mayor, PHA that we have PHA down there in the corner, TCB, they're all around and other partners and community

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organization. And I will add also greater Boston Legal Service. They've been there with with us like thank you so much. They're right down there. Um so let me see where I am at. So um

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okay right here uh so organization and of course Miss Ang Cole family. So thank you for being here. Okay. What we okay what we are doing here today going to change a lot of a

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life and I thank you for sticking with and believing in this project. We can't wait to see what ne comes next. Thanks again TCB and it's a great teal here in

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the new call center. So thank you everyone. It has I see so many residents around here. But also thanks so much my residents here. I keep saying my resident because they're mine too. So thank you everyone. So I'm going to

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pass it over again to Kazzy. Um, and to finish our welcome, I I want to invite up on behalf of the community builders, um, Jeffrey Sanchez, um, former representative for this area, um, an incredible partner to us, and also now, um, a member of the TCB board of

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directors and Boston Advisory Committee Chair. I got my ribbon. Uh, Mayor Woo, what a pleasure and thank you for your commitment to redeveloping Jackson Square. Um, it's taken three

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mayors and you delivered. So, thank you so much. Thank you, Former Mayor Janie as well. Those that are elected, thank you for your commitment to this project because it takes it takes an engaged community and it takes elected officials that really care about this community to

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deliver on it. And and as I'm looking out into this this room, um I think what makes what's happened here in Jackson Square um so unique is that all of us all of us feel something very profound

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about this place. When I think about Miss Haley, Anime Cole, Julia Martin, >> right? >> Right. I mean, these women were

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incredible, you know. Where's Mary? There she is. You know, I mean, there's something profound here. And it's in the spirit of all of these housing projects across the city of Boston.

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And it happens because of, you know, I remember the mantra here was, you know, you know, Brahmley one family, right? >> We are family. >> We are family. Right. Right. Yes, it is real. And it was real.

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And the old anime co- building and the the Brmley Hall. Let's think about all the times we had there. I was a member of the Playboy Poppers. My modeling career happened on that stage.

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Remember Mr. War? Where is he? You put out the long thing and then we walk on it and then people act stupid and then what happens? You fall off the stage and all the happy moments and also the challenges, right? Because we had a number of challenges and how that and

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how that place was the place that all of us came to celebrate and it was also the place where we came to celebrate those that we have lost with the number of repasses that we use that hall for. Think about it. And I think under the leadership of that

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guy right there, Bart Mitchell, who for some reason I cannot get away from. I've been resigning from this board ever since I got on it. But there's just something about it because this organization, the community builders, it's real. And it started in

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the South End with a bunch of black people and Puerto Ricans. It's real. And it happened during times when the federal government was walking away from public housing. Remember folks? And here we are again. And here's the community builders. And

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at that time in the 70s, I remember my mother my mother and and and Miss Haley and others got fed up with the housing authority at that time and and sued the city and put these and put all of these housing projects under receiverhip under the federal government.

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And it's that kind of activism that makes made the difference at that time that has allowed us to lay the foundation. So, the TCB and the housing authority and all of our state partners that are here with Mass Development and the governor and the lieutenant governor

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and our and our secretary of of of of housing Juan Matias to make this project happen with all of you and the folks that you know we started out one way right like I remember you know I'm looking at Kate Bennett over there you

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know like she was the hope six lady right you know she's got 15 under her belt in terms of the housing projects in the city. And we start off in one job and you know I I look at you know I look at somebody else who's over here in front of me who I call her out all the time you know Sheila Dylan because we

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all give her a shout out because we started out in one job and then all of a sudden we end up in another role and then we move and go and but what is consistent and constant all our lives? Miler Haley at Jackson Square. So, please stick to it. And we have new

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partners here. You know, I like I look at all the art that's on our that's that's happening here in this building right now. And one thing that community builders and the housing authority does now that that we that we struggled with in the past was engaging outside. But

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now we see this engagement with other partners as well. You know, like you know, I was speaking with uh with Ivy Bueno from Art Makes Place who engaged organizations like Vinfen where we have

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some folks that that that have a number of developmentally um who are abled who are celebrating their art with us. And so when you walk through this place and you're taking it in, really take it in because from the

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floorboards to the ceiling to the glass to the beautiful out the the beautiful green space that's been built around this, it has all been with the heart and soul of again Milra Haley and everyone that's here and Anime Cole and all the great women that have made this

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community possible and even us guys too, right, Mr. Royale? So thank you everybody for being here and thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak. Thank you so much, Jeff. Um, Jeff was just alluding to it, but um my uh predecessor in this role, Kate

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Bennett, who is here somewhere. Kate, where? Oh, and there she is. Um uh one of one of the um kind of mottos that she came up with while um while she was administrator of the housing authority is we are people, not buildings.

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And and I think it's really important on a day where we're we're celebrating, you know, some completion of some new buildings to honor that and remember that really the first mission and and ultimately the core mission of the housing authority is always about people. Um and today is about people.

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And so to that end, we're really excited um to have Mayor Woo here with us today, not just to celebrate this landmark moment in our in our buildings, but also to celebrate some new investments in the people that make up Mildred Haley and the BHA more broadly, um because we think it's really important that that

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come handinhand with the bricks and mortar work that we do. So, um without further ado, the mayor of Boston, Mayor Michelle Woo. Morning everyone. It is an incredible honor to be here with this amazing room and I want to thank everyone who's been thanked

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already uh and particularly to lift up the residents and community members who are welcoming us here to your home to celebrate alongside you. Um thank you so much to Miss Yolanda and the entire uh Mildred Haley tenant task force and all that you do every block party, every hot

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dog night, every every cookout. Um it's it's amazing to feel like this is a home away from home for me and then a home for so many. Um before I get into my remarks, I just wanted to you know it is really important. We were I was talking with with Jeff earlier about the uh

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30-year lifespan of some of these conversations and how many leaders have had to uh do their part and pass it on and do their part and pass it on. Some of us now at this point get to use the gigantic scissors and cut the ribbon

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because of all that we've received from our predecessors and those who have come before. So before I say my part, speaking of honoring um our predecessors and the women who have paved the way before us, I wanted to invite up my predecessor, my mayor um Kim Jane to come up and say a word to everyone.

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Listen, you didn't have to do this. I just want to echo what has been said in terms of gratitude to this community, to the residents here. Uh I've been reflecting about how important this community center, not this actual building, but this community center has

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been particularly for me as mayor. uh when we were dealing with COVID and needed a place where people could get their vaccination te their uh testing for COVID um this was such an anchor in this community. So many people have been a part of it. So many people have been

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thanked. Um I do want to lift up the community builders I am here not necessarily as a former elected but here as a part of this amazing board of directors. Uh it really truly does take a village to get to this place. And so

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for all of the folks that you see listed here, all of the sponsors, all of the folks who have invested in this community and most important to the people that have invested in their own community. Thank you for allowing us to celebrate with you. Thank you, Mayor W.

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Thank you, Mayor Janie. Um, so to all our partners at the state and the many, every time I'm with Crystal and Mark, we're gonna we're gonna have big scissors. We're gonna have a great day. We're we're either throwing some dirt or we're we're opening new homes. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you for all

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that you do to work alongside us at the city. Thank you to our amazing city teams. To chief of housing, Sheila Dylan, the national leader when it comes to housing and putting together all the pieces of that. um to Kenzie Bach of course our incredible administrator for

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the vision and the the um action and then I I know there are others represented here from our agrong commission. Uh we also have Dr. Isaac Yabau who uh runs all of our public sa community safety efforts through the Boston public health commission frequent

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presence here. Um anyway to all of our city employees thank you thank you thank you for what you do and to our partners here thank you. Um I know u and I don't want you all have to keep standing so so I'm not gonna make you stand up but thank you so much to the family members of Anime Cole who are here and this

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incredible legacy generation after generation of leadership. Uh I also had run into Miss um Mildred C Haley's daughter on the way in as well. Is she in the house still? Uh oh here. So, if you could stand and all the family

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members of Miss Haley, thank you so much for all that you do. We're so honored to share this moment with you. It has been generations of our BHA families who have stood up and you

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know you only have to spend come to any event that Yolanda and the team are putting together or or join any unity day anywhere across the city and you see that these are communities built strong who are going to make things happen no matter what city government is doing, no

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matter what state government is doing and certainly no matter what the federal government is doing. But doesn't it feel good when we actually move in the same direction and can can do things together? Um I what I take away is that because of generations of activism calling out when government wasn't

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responding to the needs of our residents here and that you were building community and delivering improvements despite maybe silence or or um delay from partners who should have been there. that we are doing everything we can not only to remedy and repair but to

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set a new standard for the rest of the country about what it what it means to actually reach the highest possible quality of life and sense of community by following the lead of our community members. And so um it is an honor to work alongside our BHA families and to

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understand um the many ways big and small that we can still be delivering resources and investing with our community. We're here to celebrate the results of not just the efforts in recent years, but decades of organizing. You've heard some of the stats and

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numbers before. So, 223 modern, beautiful, affordable homes created, 91 replacement homes for existing residents, 132 additional ones, serving families uh across the the um

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community, also connecting people across the community who don't even live in in the new homes we're celebrating by connecting the new uh with the new La Martine Street extension where the two buildings are located. and of course this beautiful Anime Cole community

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center which is built for all of all of the events um that are instrumental to bringing people together. This is all in addition to the $50 million investment that we announced almost um immediately after I had the honor of of um

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succeeding Mayor Janie when we had ARPA funding available and we worked with the city council to get that immediately out into community where more than 500 units are being upgraded with some state support as well uh to ensure that it's not just new homes that we're building but that the ones that have been here

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are as beautiful and healthy and modern as possible. So what I wanted to add today is I wanted to announce a few investments again that are not just about the buildings but how we provide services and supports for the people and families

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who live here. First, there is a $250,000 investment from the Cummings Foundation in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission to create Mildred Haley Adult Education, which expands what we've seen work in Charles Town at Charlestown Adult Education, a workforce training program

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that will get young adults and returning citizens earning certifications and placed in jobs across the city, getting people to work and and opening up their best possible future. And also um we are announcing a $3.7 million investment from the department

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of housing and urban depart urban development to create three new Boston opportunity hubs. These will be at Ruth Barkley, Alice Taylor, and Franklin Field. And there will be shuttles to connect residents from all over in every community to get to these hubs where they'll have uh we'll have workforce

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training, career counseling, and many other supports. This was a a competitive process to receive these grants. Um Boston was one of just 10 communities nationwide to earn the Department of HUD grants and we received the maximum

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amount possible. So, thank you to all of our labor partners who have made our spaces possible. Thank you to everyone who has envisioned this space and to all the city teams who have helped build the partnerships and supports as well. to Stephen Chan from our partnerships team,

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Trin Wyn from worker empowerment, and um director Dr. Isaac Yabau from Boston Public Health Commission and Violence Prevention. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do. And now um I get to hand the mic over to someone who is an incredible leader in our city and

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can share the importance of how some of these programs that we're now going to be able to expand um can contribute to the community and provide an example across the country. So, I'd like to bring up Arielis Vega, a graduate of Charlestown Adult Education.

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Hello everybody. My name is Audreas and I'm so proud to be a graduate of the Charles Town Adult Education Program. On June 12th, I stood alongside more than 40 other students, something I never imagined would happen. When I first joined the program at around 17, I had

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lost my motivation to continue school and pursue any careers further than that. I stopped going to school and put everything on hold. But thanks to the Boys and Girls Club and the amazing people that work at Charleston Adult Education and the people that believed

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in me, I was able to come here today as a graduate and push forward to go to college as a nursing student and And because of this opportunity, I now have a lot of doors that have opened up for me. I am able to get work, better

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work, and obviously, like I said, go to college and pursue all of the careers that I wish to pursue. And I would also like to give a special thank you to Lori Azure and Marilyn. Their p their patience, encouragement, and dedication helped me find the confidence

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to keep going. They truly care about every student and go above and beyond to help those in need. Charlestown Adult Education gave me a second chance and opened doors I thought were closed. To everyone who supported me, thank you. and to the staff and members who give their time and heart to

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help students reach their goals. Please know that your work truly changes lives. I'm so glad there'll be more opportunity hubs like Charlestown Adult Education for more Boston residents to be able to receive the support and services they need to make a positive change in their lives. And with this speech and this

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opening, I truly hope that everybody who's didn't like who was in my area and in my stage of life where they didn't want to go to college or high school or they weren't able to finish that. I hope with this opening that they learn that no matter how hard it is that they

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always have people who support them. And I learned and I hope that this helps people advocate for themselves better and ask for the help that they need instead of just lying around at home and not doing anything. Thank you so much, Andreas. Um, and we

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just are so thrilled. I really want to recognize um Lori was mentioned, but she's the director of our Charles Town Adult Education Center right there. Um and her incredible team um and we've been really proud that this um has been so successful that we've had folks from all over the city going to

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this in Charletown. Um but we want to make it even easier to serve more people and to serve them all over the city. And so this opportunity, thank you so much to the Cummings Foundation for saying that we should bring something like this here to Mildred Haley. We are so thrilled. So, thank you to them. Um,

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and uh and and to um Steven Chan, our director of part chief of partnerships at the city um who was really instrumental in this and to Isaac Yablo, who is our partner every single day here at this site and all over. Um and uh and then I just want to acknowledge this really exciting competitive grant from

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HUD. Um the this $3.7 million grant, it was a grant from HUD that helped us originally form the Charlestown Adult Education Center. And so it's great to now get to build on the success from that past grant with a new one. Um, and I would be remiss if before we continue with the program, I didn't list the huge list of partners who helped us win that

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grant because one of the things that happens when you apply for a big federal competitive grant is that people look at who you've got on your team. Um, and I think it says a lot about the support in the whole civic space for the Boston Housing Authority and our residents. that our partners on this were not just

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the office of workforce development and chief twin who was mentioned who's amazing and constants Martin where is constants who along with my um staff Nick Kelly wrote a huge amount of this grant so can we get a round of applause for constants

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but our other partners on this and we'll see if I can get to everybody were ABCD the um public private industries council to pick um the best hospitality training, building pathways, New England Culinary Arts, PowerCore, Lisk, Boston,

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City Academy, Empath, Roxbury Community, um, College, uh, Santandere Bank, uh, Boston Medical Center, the Whittier Street Health Center, the BPHC, as I mentioned, the public health commission, and Greater Boston Legal Services all submitted support letters for us. So, it

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really was like an incredible an incredible team effort. And and uh and speaking of kind of community support, I wanted to mention, I'd be remiss if I didn't, the mayor mentioned that um $50 million that she committed right at the beginning of her tenure, which has let us kick off in parallel to these new buildings, this deep retrofit

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work that we've been doing. Um a big community partner in pushing for that alongside our residents was the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. So, I also want to shout them out as well. It's about people, not buildings, but buildings are very important to people. And so, I do want to invite up now um to

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really talk about the building piece of this project and what's come together and all that his team um has done to make this happen. Uh Andy Waxman, who's the vice president of real estate development for the community builders. Thank you, Kenzie. Good morning, everyone. Again, my name is Andy Waxman,

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senior vice president of real estate at the community builders and I'm also speaking as a JP resident and actually a resident of Lam Martin Street. So, I'm very makes it more proud today to be here at TCB. Our mission is to build and sustain strong communities where all

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people can thrive. As a developer, owner, and manager of these buildings, we're particularly proud to be advancing that mission here today. Today we are very happy to have reached this huge milestone, the completion of the first phase of Mildred Haley redevelopment at 2 and 6 L Martin as well as the

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reopening of of the Anime Cole Center. Other people have said these statistics, but I'll say them again. These buildings represent the first step in a resident centered transformation and we've replaced outdated buildings with 23 modern energyefficient homes. 91 of them

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are for existing Mildred Haley residents, ensuring the families who built the community can remain a part of it. It also includes 132 additional affordable and moderate income apartments, increasing the supply of housing here in Boston. These homes are designed to welcome

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families at a range of income levels, reinforcing our commitment to long-term affordability and inclusion. But as others have said, as important as these buildings are, the project is about much more than housing. It's about connection. Today, we're officially open opening reopening the renewed community

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space, the anime call center. TCB's community life team will run the anime call center on a daily basis and will bring important support and programming to the neighborhood. We're also uh proud of uh the various other public amenities that we've

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provided, including a p the public plaza that a lot of people are hanging out in beforehand, the new street which knits together the neighborhood more fully with the fabric of J Square, the art that people have mentioned. Um this is a place not just to live but to gather,

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grow, and thrive. And while I speak today on behalf of TCB, I also wanted to give a shout out to our development partners in the transformation of Mildred Haley apartments. As others have mentioned, this is the third partnership between TCB, JPNDC, and Urban Edge. As

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uh at an event a few years ago, maybe it was Jeffrey Sanchez, I forget, but somebody called the the three of three groups the three amigos. Um and at TCB, we're honored to partner with such strong organizations. Our work together, which has been going on for over 20

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years, is a key part of transforming Jackson Square. Thank you to Teronda and Alio and your teams for being such great long-term partners. We're also excited that in the near future, we'll be celebrating the groundbreaking of your two buildings

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right nearby here. Uh this is also the second partnership between our three groups and the Boston Housing Authority. So thank you again to Kenzie and her team for all your ongoing work together. And beyond these partners, now I have to do my long list of uh folks that I have

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to thank. Um thank you to all the public and uh public and financing partners. Thank you, Mayor Woo, of course. Uh um and for the funding from the city. Some of that has come also from the BHA and also from the mayor's housing office of housing. Thank you very much, Sheila,

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and your team. Thank you to the various state funding partners. Uh Kate Racer is not here today, but thank you to her team at the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Also, the Executive Office of Economic Development and MA Mass Housing. Thank you, Mark and

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Crystal. Um thank you uh to the members of our development team um including PCA Architects and Conigley who respectively uh they have respectively designed and built these beautiful buildings that are on their way to being lead gold for uh

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for two lamarine and passive house certified for six lamine. Um thank you to our private funding partners Raymond James, Dorfman Capital, Santandere, Eastern Bank, Chase, Sedak Lisk, and Boston Children's Hospital. Um thank you to TCB board members. Some of them have

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been up here speaking, but thank you uh Kim Janie and uh and um Jeffrey Sanchez. Thank you to Maya Roberts as well. And our Boston advisory committee also has gotten a shout out before, but Kate Bennett. Um thank you to the TCB staff

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who have worked on these buildings uh bringing them to life. There's not enough time for me to thank everyone at TCB, but I would at least call out the people on the development team. Um, thank you, Robert Smith, Menddees, Ohama Pippen, and Allison Collins, and of course, Laura Martin.

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Um, Laura was hired about seven years ago to read this to lead this redevelopment process, and Laura has since been promoted twice. and I can't thank you enough for all your hard work for making today a reality. And last but not least, thank you to the

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Mildred Haley residents uh uh whose voices and leadership have guided and continue to guide this process, including the members of the Mildred Haley task force and the anime call advisory committee. Two and six Lamarine set the stage for what's to come. a long-term vision that

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will preserve deeply affordable housing while creating new opportunities for hundred more families hundreds more families. Together, we're building a stronger, more connected, and more equitable community. Thank you to everyone in this room since all of you in some ways have been part of building these buildings and making them come to

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life as a place where people can not only live but also thrive. Thank you for being a part of this moment and for helping us celebrate the future we're building together. Thank you. Thank you so much, Andy. Um, Laura, it's classic at the BHA as well that you get promoted multiple times and yet you

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still retain responsibility for the project that you were originally hired to do. Um, and and in that vein, I just want to I do want to shout out some BHA people who some of them have changed hats, but they've been very involved in this along the way. And this is just a very partial list, but my deputy

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administrator Joel Wool, my deputy administrator, David Glice, um Joe Bamberg, who I see in the back, um Amy Tran, Chris Connelly, Chris Knox, uh Raul Leon, Katie McGonagal, Nancy Oro, um Maria Bonia, and the whole management

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team, all the different managers who have been here at Haley over the years. Um and uh uh the Steven Rem and the whole maintenance team, Josh Ufring, um it really uh Chief Jenkins and his team are um our BHA police. It really takes a whole organization on our side, too. And

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so, thank you. Thank you so much to all the BHA team. Um next up, I want to invite Under Secretary Patrick Field. Um we're so delighted to have him here with us today, and he's representing the Executive Office of Economic Development.

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Thanks for having me. Okay, I'm we are standing between you all and the food. So, I know we're g I'm going to try and be quick. So, uh first of all, I was with the mayor at an event in Austin Brighton about Harvard yesterday. This event is a lot more fun. So, give yourselves a round of applause. Huh. Uh

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about 40 years ago, I was a fresh out of college student and I used to live just up the street. I walk every day past Jackson Square to get to the new orange line stop to work at a night shift at at adolescent crisis shelter. And what a transformation it has been over those years. Really, really impressive. And

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I'm really grateful to be standing here after all those years with all the amazing work that all of you did to make this happen. Um the Commonwealth uh through our Mass Works program at economic development invest in a number of things primarily what we call flat infrastructure, roads, parks, sewers, and water. the things you don't always

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see but are incredibly important to the buildup of these things. And I cannot think of a better project than this one for us to have invested in for all of you and for this place. So in our first phase which really supported this effort, we put in $4 million for a number of things that have

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led to this project. And we're also excited to say that we've also put in another four million for the next phase of the project as well to really support the work. What I'm really excited about is that this is going to make for new homes for new residents. But really importantly, it is going to make homes for people who

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have been here for generations and so often feel displaced by all the changes in this city and they're going to have a home for years and maybe generations to come. And that makes me super happy and proud. So to all of you who have been here multiple years, multiple generations, this is your home and I'm

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so glad we could support it. So, thanks again and good luck with all the great work and this beautiful space and enjoying it and living in it and having your lives here. So, thanks. >> All right. And last, but very much not least, um I want to invite up Mass Housing. Uh we're joined here by Crystal

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Cornne um and by Mark Tedon, who's the vice president of multif family programs. Mass Housing is our financing partner on pretty much everything we do here at the BHA. Um, and we do a lot, so we're very grateful to them for their partnership and patience. Um, and uh, yeah, just so glad to have you here. So,

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Mark, please come up. >> Thank you, Kenzie. And um thank you for putting me right at the very end of one of the most impressive ribbon cutting uh speaking rosters I've ever um attended. Um uh so Bart uh Andy uh

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Laura, congratulations to you and your teams for what we're celebrating here today, the completion of the first phase of uh a yearslong effort to redevelop the entire Mililder Daily uh complex. Uh and Kenzie, it seems like a BHA mass

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housing uh event is a bi-weekly thing now uh given the depth and breadth of our evolving relationship, which uh which we appreciate. Um and speaking of relationship, this is our 20th deal with TCB, over a quarter billion dollars in financing.

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As has been mentioned several times, unfortunately, you're going to hear the same thing from me again, but uh we're not only we celebrating new buildings, but also new thinking and understanding about how people live and connect. Uh

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this site now redeveloped is uh reconnected to the surrounding neighborhood through improved green space, pedestrian paths, landscaping uh and other public areas. all in significant distinction to how the site

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was designed back in the 1940s. Further, with this beautiful new building here, the Aname Cole Community Center, the impact of this newly developed uh of these newly developed buildings will extend well beyond what new urban design and beautiful new buildings can

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contribute. Uh with significant community engagement, uh TCB will now be able to deliver programs, events, classes such as jobs development and resident leadership training, and in accordance with their mission to build and sustain strong communities, further

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enhance the lives of everybody who lives here. While these programs need all 600 units ultimately to pay for them, uh, in addition to the other grants that were listed, Mass Housing through our housing stability group, in addition to the

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financing we provided, we're also very pleased to have provided TCB a grant so they can bring these services on day one to the first residents without waiting for the last. You see the many capital sources here and I'd just like to acknowledge our colleagues at the Executive Office of

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Housing and Livable Communities. They do not ever seek the credit uh nor do they ever get the credit they deserve. But without them, projects like this all over the state simply couldn't happen. And they are an amazing partner and the

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state is really lucky to have that group uh helping us put together these deals. Another group who you don't see listed up here is the AFL CIO Housing Investment Trust.

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They lent us the money for us to put into this project. And so that's uh it's a little bit indirect, but their faith in us and their faith in TCB allowed us to give interest rate certainty. Sorry to get a little nerdy

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here, but to give us interest to give allow us to give the development interest rate certainty well before we actually sold the bonds so that the deal could close when it needed to close. Uh, and they're an amazing partner uh for

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us. Um, I don't think Emanuel is here today. Um, but uh they deserve a round of applause. I'd like to thank my colleagues at Mass Housing. Of course, you all know Crystal. Um, and uh but thank

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but but the leadership Crystal and I provide simply cannot come to life without the work, very hard work of a very smart and dedicated staff. Um, Rachel, Kelly, John, Tommy, Libby, Frank, uh, and

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others. If you're a massousing person, just please raise your hand. Yeah. Thank Thank you for all that you do. Lastly, of course, has also been spoken, um, it may it may seem our work is abstract. It and a lot of it is, but,

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mass housing is populated, uh, of course, by people. We actually are deeply appreciative of the patience um that the residents have displayed here uh as they've waited um so long for what is now a beautiful result and so we

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congratulate you on this your day as well. Uh so again Bart uh Andy Laura Kinsey congratulations on the completion of the first phase of this significant development. uh TCB has set the stage

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for the continued success and set the tone for the continued success for future phases. Congratulations. >> Thank you so much, Mark. And yes, thank you to the FLCIO hit, to Ced, to Lisk, to all of our funders. And I'd also be remiss not to shout out Boston Children's Hospital, um which is on this

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board, but is a huge supporter. for folks who don't know, supporter of our youth center, which we do in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Boston at the cave, supporter of our food pantry here. So, just like I mean, just the list of people who we've listed today, I just really think emphasizes

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how much the whole city has its arms around this place um as it should. Um and you know, we're going to keep Oh, the nurturery also here on site. I think I saw Laura earlier. So, yeah, there she is. Um so, uh yeah, just like an incredible set of partners. Um, you

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know, we're going to keep getting together because we've got many more phases to go. So, looking forward to more of these with TCB and also with Urban Edge and our partners at JPNDC. Um, and you know, I think we're all going to keep getting together, but we're not going to get tired of it. Um, because it's really just a a huge

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transformative project. So, um, shout out to my team, Emily, Gabby, and Brian who helped put this all together on the communication side. Um, and uh, we're going to wrap up the program now, but if you want a tour of the buildings, tour groups will be gathering in the back of the room. So, if you want to go actually see some apartments, um, that's

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happening next. And as I think was alluded to, there is also food in the back. So, thank you all so much. And, uh, let's go.