Wallace Towers $10M MODPhase Grant - with Cake!

So glad I could attend today to support our The Fitchburg Housing Authority!! With this money the director said we'll be able to gut many units, provide better heating and modernize our units to allow our elder population to age in place---providing more accessibility for our residents and better living conditions!
Plus---again---there was cake =) 🍰🎂

Fitchburg's Wallace Tower, on Wallace Ave across from the YMCA is getting approx $10.1M from State grants from MODphase (Modernizing Public Housing And Supporting Elders initiative) which launched in 2016 to improve and preserve public housing around the commonwealth.

“It’s a great nexus of public housing and health care,” said Fitchburg Housing Authority Executive Director Douglas Bushman. Bushman said the money will help jump-start several rehabilitation projects that address capital needs and improve accessibility for aging-in-communities at Wallace Tower. “It’s a program that’s going to help senior citizens that live in public housing age in place,” he said. “So they can live their lives in the communities that they love, surrounded by their friends and family.”

The Fitchburg Housing Authority will modernize the 130-unit, high-rise elderly development built in 1973, including upgrading 13 accessible units to current code.

Fitchburg plans to coordinate existing health care programs with new nutritional and socialization programs to promote aging-in-community in this downtown development with access to local amenities.

This year, the state awarded $23.5 million grant funding to housing authorities in Amesbury, Beverly, Chelmsford, Fairhaven, Fitchburg, Lexington, and Lowell.

https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2019/12/19/fitchburg-housing-authority-receives-10-million-for-wallace-tower-upgrade

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40th Anniversary celebration of the CJ Durkin Apartments & $500k Grant Award Announcement

I attended the 40th Anniversary celebration of the CJ Durkin Apartments at 50 Day St Fitchburg this week-- What a great gathering of people and a great event ---and bonus... there was cake =D
We celebrated our 40th anniversary of the Durkin Apartments---which are operated by The Fitchburg Housing Authority​ for our Seniors and Disabled population; and 6 family members of CJ Durkin came -- with grandson Judge Thomas Durkin from Vermont and son Thomas H Durkin from Falmouth.
The Housing Authority board attended, Disability commission as well as a representative from MOC, myself as a city councilor and the mayor.
We also celebrated a grant of $500k for the Durkin apartments from DHCD to remodel 9 units for ADA Accessibility, remove hallway barriers and more.

Fitchburg Access Television (FATV)​ attended and recorded the event for broadcast here: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/yycCAZPb0NN3zj2o5qio-YFMNC43NjCG/media/531392

"Clarence J. Durkin was born in 1896 and was involved in a plethora of organizations for many years.

After enlisting in the Volunteer Militia in 1913 and later serving in World War I, Durkin married Katherine Shea and had six children.

Durkin served as a commissioner and as chairman of the Fitchburg Housing Authority from 1948 to 1978. As the Labor Representative he was instrumental in establishing that the FHA was to serve veterans, their families, the elderly and disabled of Fitchburg.

He assisted with organizing the Fitchburg Civic Days and its Parade Committee, for which he served as Chief of Staff and Grand Marshal, and was named Fitchburg Citizen of the Year in 1970.

Thomas H. Durkin, Durkin’s son, said his father was both a proud and humble man who never stopped caring about others.

He recalled a winter day when he was 10 years old and his father took him to help a neighbor. After fixing the neighbor’s wood furnace, and on the way home, his father told him about the importance of helping people who are in need.

“This dedication to family, community, and country was a hallmark of his entire career,” he said.

Honorable Judge Thomas Durkin, C. J. Durkin’s grandson, said his grandfather was a leader to his family and to the world. He said there was always a lesson to be learned when you were with him."

Sentinel Article: https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2019/12/12/celebrating-40-years-at-c-j-durkin-apartments-with-500000-grant/