Press Release: 4/14/2026

Healey-Driscoll Administration Invests More Than $8 Million to Revitalize Neighborhoods and Expand Homeownership

 



Funding will create 49 affordable homes and transform vacant properties across Massachusetts 



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:



4/13/2026



MEDIA CONTACT



HLC Communications



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Email HLC Communications at hlcpress@mass.gov



SPRINGFIELD — The Healey-Driscoll Administration and MassHousing today announced more than $8 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant awards to 10 community-based organizations and municipalities to support the redevelopment or rehabilitation of 49 affordable homes, including 34 affordable homeownership opportunities. The funding will transform vacant, abandoned and blighted properties into homes for Massachusetts families. 



The Administration announced the grant awards at 524 Union Street in Springfield, as part of 413 Day across Western Massachusetts. Way Finders, a nonprofit community development corporation based in Springfield, is using NSP grant funding to transform the vacant residential structure at Union Street into a new affordable homeownership opportunity for a first-time homebuyer. 



“We are taking action to create more homes, lower costs and make sure people can afford to live in Massachusetts,” said Governor Maura Healey. “These investments will turn vacant, abandoned properties into homes for families, expanding homeownership opportunities and strengthening neighborhoods across Massachusetts.” 



“These awards are about helping communities bring neglected properties back to life and put them back to work for residents,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “This funding will support local revitalization efforts, create affordable homeownership opportunities and help more families put down roots in Massachusetts.” 



“Every family deserves the chance to live in a safe, affordable home and every community deserves to see vacant and neglected properties brought back to life,” said Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Juana Matias. “These awards will help local partners create 49 affordable homes, including 34 homeownership opportunities, while restoring properties that have been a source of blight and disinvestment for far too long. This is how we strengthen neighborhoods, expand opportunity and make sure more Massachusetts residents can put down roots in the communities they call home.” 



The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) is a capital grant program that provides nonprofit developers and municipalities with funds to address blight, abandonment and disinvestment in residential neighborhoods by supporting the construction, reconstruction, renovation or repair of substandard homeownership and rental properties. The program was reauthorized under the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Affordable Homes Act, the largest housing bond bill in Massachusetts history. 



“The Neighborhood Stabilization Program helps drive transformational change for families and neighborhoods,” said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. “This funding round will help 34 families achieve first-time homeownership while driving investment and stabilization in a variety of communities, from rural towns to Gateway Cities. We thank all the nonprofit development organizations for their dedication to advancing these critical projects, and we look forward to welcoming families into their new affordable homes.” 



Since the launch of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in 2022, MassHousing has committed more than $21 million to organizations and municipalities across the commonwealth for 33 projects involving the development or rehabilitation of 86 affordable homeownership units and 55 affordable rental units. 



Communities across the commonwealth are eligible to apply for NSP grant funding, with the program prioritizing projects that will have the greatest impact in weaker markets, including rural communities and communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also prioritizes projects that promote homeownership and projects that incorporate energy and utility savings into building designs. All homes created or rehabilitated through the program will remain affordable for at least 15 years. More information about the program is available at masshousing.com. 



Awarded projects 




  • 11 Green Street, Carver — $105,000: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth will acquire a long-vacant and blighted property from the town of Carver and redevelop the home into a new homeownership opportunity for low-income first-time homebuyers, with a preference for veterans. The project was awarded significant matching funds from the Carver Community Preservation Committee. 

  • North Falmouth Woods Community Housing, Falmouth — $2 million: Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod will utilize NSP grant funding to redevelop the site of a long-vacant single-family home and barn into 14 new affordable homeownership units. The project will create new year-round affordable housing for working families on Cape Cod and conserve surrounding undisturbed woodlands in partnership with the 300 Committee Land Trust. Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod is collaborating with the town of Falmouth to permit the project through Chapter 40B.  

  • 187 Hope Street, Greenfield — $500,000: The city of Greenfield is partnering with Oxbow Design Build Cooperative to redevelop a vacant lot into a new affordable homeownership duplex. The development team will transfer the finished lot to the Franklin County Community Land Trust, helping to create lasting affordability at the site.  

  • Great Falls First Street, Montague — $1.068 million: Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity will create six new affordable homeownership opportunities on an underutilized and vacant town-owned lot. The construction of six new detached energy-efficient homes advances local planning priorities within the town’s Chapter 40R smart growth district. Montague previously partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to remediate polluted soils on the site and prepare it for redevelopment.  

  • 10 Unity Street, Montague — $250,000: Rural Development, Inc. will demolish a vacant and condemned single-family home in Montague’s village of Turners Falls, and construct a new, affordable, energy-efficient homeownership opportunity on site. Rural Development, Inc. gained site control through court-appointed receivership, working in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General’s Neighborhood Renewal Division. 10 Unity Street will be the second property redeveloped under Rural Development, Inc.’s Rural Homes Program, which seeks to transform abandoned properties into new affordable homeownership opportunities.  

  • Capitol Theater, New Bedford — $1.35 million: Community Economic Development Center is advancing the phased redevelopment of a long-vacant historic theater building into new affordable housing, commercial and community space. NSP funding will help create six new affordable rental homes on the building’s upper floor. The new rental homes will feature sustainable design features and all-electric systems. The Community Economic Development Center previously completed structural stabilization, masonry repairs, stormwater management improvements and the installation of a blue/green roof on site.  

  • Providence Road, Northbridge — $300,000: The South Middlesex Nonprofit Housing Corporation will rehabilitate 8 existing affordable rental homes. Planned improvements include interior kitchen and bathroom renovations, flooring replacement, fire safety upgrades, and energy efficiency upgrades, including window replacement and roof repairs.  

  • City of Homes, Springfield — $1 million: Way Finders, Inc. will utilize NSP funding to redevelop three vacant city-owned lots into new affordable single-family homes and undertake a gut rehabilitation of a vacant two-family home. Way Finders is redeveloping the vacant residential lots in partnership with the city of Springfield. It is rehabilitating and preserving the vacant and blighted two-family structure under court-appointed receivership. The two-family property will be sold to an affordable buyer and be owner-occupied, with a rental unit restricted at 80% of the area median income. All five affordable units advance Way Finders’ City of Homes initiative, which is addressing blight and abandonment in Springfield’s Old Hill and McKnight neighborhoods by creating new affordable homeownership opportunities.  

  • 12 Congress Street, Worcester — $500,000: Worcester Community Housing Resources will utilize NSP funds to redevelop an existing home that has been vacant and abandoned for nearly a decade. WCHR will transform the condemned property into two affordable three-bedroom homes, which will be sold to first-time homebuyers. WCHR gained site control through court-appointed receivership, in partnership with the Office of the Attorney General’s Neighborhood Renewal Division.  

  • HFH Affordable Homes, Worcester — $950,000: Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester is redeveloping three vacant lots – located at 9 Davis Street, 33 Ripley Street and 104 Armory Street — into four new affordable homes for purchase by first-time homebuyers. The nonprofit developer acquired all three sites from the city of Worcester, and the development will match NSP grants with city and philanthropic funding.  



About HLC’s mission 



These investments build on the administration’s broader efforts to make Massachusetts more affordable by increasing housing production, lowering costs, expanding homeownership programs and connecting residents with the stable homes and services they need to succeed. These include expanding down payment assistance and lowering mortgage rates to make it easier for Massachusetts residents to buy their first home. At the same time, to build more homes, the governor has taken action to speed up the permitting process, turn state land into thousands of new homes, convert downtown commercial space into apartments and create a first-in-the-nation fund to finance mixed-income development in a time of high interest rates. She also legalized Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and this year, her administration will be offering low-cost financing and free designs for anyone who wants to add an ADU to their home. To help people afford their mortgages and rents right now, she banned mandatory renter-paid broker fees, gave seniors up to $2,800 a year to help with housing costs, and expanded home inspection protections.    



About MassHousing 



MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, financially self-sustaining agency created in 1966 to confront the Commonwealth's housing challenges. The Agency provides financing to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve rental housing. MassHousing uses housing finance to strengthen communities, to help people build economic prosperity, and to expand homeownership. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided more than $30 billion to support homeownership and rental housing opportunities across Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.masshousing.com.