Allston Brighton Comm Development Corp.

Mary-Helen Nsangou, who goes by “MH,” is the executive director of the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation. Over 17 years at Allston Brighton CDC, she has founded, led and strengthened programs that create stability, opportunity and community engagement through affordable housing, economic development and open space initiatives. MH began at the Allston Brighton CDC as a community organizer, then established and grew its affordable homeownership education program, and went on to serve as the organization’s associate director. She also played interim roles as executive director and director of economic development.  MH’s interest in community development began as a college student at Wesleyan University, where she created her own major in ethics and led research on women in homelessness. This interest was deepened through service in the Peace Corps as a Community Development volunteer in Cameroon, where she organized women’s groups in micro-enterprise projects. MH serves on the board of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations. She is a current MBA candidate at the McCallum School of Business at Bentley University and recently completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

In this time in which residents of our community are under heightened financial stress, threatening both their own stability and that of our community, ABCDC assists individual & families in building financial self-sufficiency. This year, we will: *Teach 9 Homeownership classes with 200 graduates - at least 80 Homebuying 101 graduates will purchase homes * Hold individual homebuying counseling with 60 graduates * offer 5 graduate & post-purchase workshops for stable homeownership *produce the annual Homeownership Resource Guide & the program Outcomes Report * Grow the program, focusing on Spanish-speaking community & deepening reach with high quality RE professionals *Recruit for Homeownership matched-savings accounts in partnership with Midas Collaborative * Integrate Financial Education into additional neighborhood programs & use more volunteers We seek to meet the high demand for affordable homes in Allston Brighton by providing a stable foundation from which families and individual can build healthy lives.  In our work to enhance the affordable housing supply by supporting the ongoing health of our 470-unit real estate portfolio, this year we will: *Refinance and integrate green retrofits in 177 affordable homes.  * Complete lighting retrofits across entire portfolio, getting ½ of all properties accepted into programs to complete energy efficiency improvements.  * Complete a business plan for a shared Asset Management Center in partnership with other non-profit housing owners & begin migration to it.  * Continue strong oversight of our management company We assist low-income residents in preserving their tenancies ensure that families are able to avoid homelessness. This year we will: * Counsel 175 Boston households through City of Boston’s housing counseling program *Counsel 20 households whose tenancies are threatened * Offer support group to mothers of young children * Strengthen partnerships with local organizations that can bring in additional services * Present two workshops on tenant issues at ESOL classes.