Steering committee members, from left, David Turcotte, Frank Carvalho, Emily Rosenbaum, Richard P. Howe Jr., Ed Cameron, Deb Chausse and Paul Marion.

The Theodore Edson Parker Foundation recently awarded UMass Lowell a $25,000 seed grant to establish the Technical Assistance and Research Center for Housing Sustainability. 

“This grant will allow us to better respond to the rapidly increasing community requests for housing technical assistance and research support,” says Dr. David Turcotte, principal investigator. 

The grant is especially timely, he says, because the University is poised to help stakeholders in Lowell who are planning the new Hamilton Canal District, developing plans to end homelessness, and seeking more affordable housing. 

“Unlike many regions in the U.S., available land in Lowell is growing ever scarcer, creating more pressure to prepare for the housing needs of our children and grandchildren now,” says Turcotte.

The grant’s goals are providing technical assistance for affordable housing, involving students in addressing housing needs, building in-kind contributions, resources and volunteers, conducting external fundraising for summer student research projects and supporting Lowell’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.  Turcotte will also seek additional funding to support houring needs in other communities within the Merrimack Valley.

Turcotte is joined by co-principal investigators Linda Silka and Bob Forrant of the Regional Economic and Social Development (RESD) Department.  Members of the community steering committee include Richard P. Howe Jr., Middlesex North Register of Deeds; Karen Frederick; executive director of Community Teamwork; Emily Rosenbaum, executive director of the Coalition for a Better Acre; Frank Carvalho, chair of the Lowell Foreclosure Prevention Task Force; Deb Chausse, executive director of the House of Hope; Lisa Kozol, director of Real Estate Development for Lawrence Community Works; and George Proakis, chief planner for the City of Lowell.