To the editor:
I have really had my eyes opened lately. As a new member of the Lincoln Housing Commission, I have heard of and received phone calls from senior citizens in need of affordable housing. Several of these people live in Lincoln and some in the surrounding area but all of them are about to be displaced from their housing situation and are in dire need of a place to live. It is not so much that I was not aware of this problem—just, well, not in Lincoln.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), public housing preferences are prioritized in the following manner: persons who are homeless due to natural disasters persons who are homeless due to public action; and persons with emergency needs (such as domestic violence victims, persons with medical emergencies; or homeless persons facing an immediate threat to their health and safety).
The aforementioned do not quite fit any of these categories and are not able to obtain housing. I know of other people that do fit at least one of the above categories and they too are not able to obtain housing. We continue to brainstorm and, while we have some ideas, such as a group home and/or affordable accessory apartments, we are quite honestly struggling with how to find a solution to this growing problem. Anyone with either generous purses or creative ideas on how to provide assistance, is asked to contact Pam Mizrahi at the Council on Aging (781-259-8811) or email me at Sharon.antia@gmail.com.
While Lincoln has always met or exceeded the state requirement that 10 percent of housing stock is classified as affordable, because of our small size the number of affordable units is quite limited. Currently all our affordable units are occupied but if you or someone you know is in need of affordable housing, applications are available by calling Elaine Carroll at 781.259.2613 or visiting this Town of Lincoln web page.
Finally, this fall the Housing Commission will host a forum to discuss the needs of our community, the housing work done in Lincoln to date, and solicit input for the future. At the forum we will share our preliminary research into the possibility of creating an affordable accessory apartment program in Lincoln and look forward to receiving feedback from the community. The forum will be held Saturday, Sept. 26 from 1-3 p.m. in the Donaldson Room in town hall.
Sincerely,
Sharon Antia
165 South Great Rd.
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
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