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From YouTube: O'Connor Senior Development Home Groundbreaking
Description
Seniors are the backbone of our community and this project ensures they remain a part of our community. Mayor Walsh joins Congressman Lynch, Executive Director of Caritas Communities Mark Winkeller and Donna Brown of the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation to break ground on a 46 unit, affordable senior housing development near Andrew Square in South Boston.
A
A
Good
morning,
it's
a
pleasure
to
be
here
back
in
my
old
neighborhood
and
council
priorities.
Old
neighborhood,
the
Flaherty's
lived
right
down
old
Conaway,
take
a
left
first
courtyard
down
there
on
the
right.
We're
honor
goes
with
two
courtyards
down
on
the
right,
so
it's
a
pleasure
to
be
back
here.
I
spent
many
many
hours
on
that
basketball
court
as
a
young
man
and
as
a
teenager,
and
it's
wonderful
to
be
back
in
in
my
old
Navy
Oh.
Before
we
begin,
I
would
like
to
call
for
a
brief
moment
of
silence.
A
Thank
you
again,
I'm
delighted
to
be
here
a
very
exciting
day
to
celebrate
the
groundbreaking
of
46,
affordable
elderly
housing
units
for
the
seniors
of
this
community.
This
neighborhood
sorely
needed,
affordable
housing
for
seniors
in
this
neighborhood
and
delighted
to
introduce
our
first
speaker
who
support
for
this
program
of
this
endeavor.
This
program
was
there
right
from
the
very
beginning.
A
Today's
groundbreaking
is
an
example
of
our
mayor's
commitment
to
the
use
of
public
land
to
develop,
affordable
housing
and
his
financial
contributions
through
the
IDP
program
and
through
the
subsidies
that
the
VHA
are
providing
we'll
make
this
a
wonderful
elderly
community
we'll
have
services
on-site
as
well
so
delighted
to
introduce
our
mayor
and
a
champion
of
portable
housing
in
the
city.
Please,
a
warm
welcome
for
mayor
Matt,
waltz.
B
I
want
to
thank
Billy
I
want
to
thank
everyone
for
coming
out
today.
I
want
to
thank
the
folks
that
are
behind
me.
I
want
to
thank
congressman.
Lynch
is
his
great
work
that
he
does
and
we
were
talking
before.
Stevens
said
that
he
didn't
think
this.
The
spot
was
so
big
and
I
agree
with
you.
I
didn't
think
it
was
this
big
and
if
we
knew
the
pay,
we
probably
would
about
350
units
on
Thank
You
congressman
for
that
I
want
to
thank
City,
Council,
Michael
Flaherty,
also
state
representative
David
Beale.
B
We
have
with
us
today
yeah
City,
Council,
Eddie
Flynn.
They
only
think
the
councillor
and
eight
conversations
with
all
these
folks
and
what
we
talked
about
all
the
time
is
that
quality
of
life
of
folks,
and
we
talk
about
development,
the
City
of
Austin
and
sometimes
people
are
concerned
and
critical
of
the
development
along
with
City
Council
Frank
Baker's
with
us,
and
this
is
a
project
that
actually
is
a
great
project
to
me
not
make.
B
No
one
can
complain
about
this
and
I
want
to
thank
the
elected
officials,
all
the
elected
officials
that
are
with
us
today
for
their
advocacy
in
making
sure
that
we
could
see
them
look
forward
to
give
everyone
an
opportunity
to
live
in
the
city
of
Boston.
I
want
to
thank
Donna
Braun
from
the
cell
Boston
Neighborhood
Development
Corporation,
whose
here
and
I'll
let
Billy
talk
about
that.
My
twin
killer
from
from
Caritas
communities,
only
Thank
You
mark
as
well.
B
Thanks
Sheila
Dillon,
chief
of
housing
for
the
City
of
Boston
and
all
the
folks
that
are
here
today.
Anyone
who
went
in
to
do
with
this
project.
Thank
you.
I
can
probably
name
everyone.
That's
in
this
in
this
Park
today,
I
want
to
thank
you
all
for
being
part
of
something
really
special.
This
land
has
been
sitting
vacant
for
over
50
years
and
I
want
to
thank
s
B
and
C
and
Caritas
for
being
co-developers
in
this
project.
B
It's
a
longtime
partnership
and
bringing
many
more
affordable
units
to
the
different
neighborhoods
in
our
city,
and
particularly
here
today.
One
of
one
of
the
central
points
of
our
housing
plan
is
creating
opportunities
for
senior
housing
and
the
reason
why
we
did
a
housing
plan
was
in
2014.
We
inherited
from
the
city
and
not
anyone
in
particular,
just
the
city
that
we
were
growing.
B
People
wanted
to
move
into
our
city,
people
buying
homes
and
people
being
pushed
out
of
homes,
and
it
was
all
the
investments
made
in
our
city
that
people
are
excited
about
the
City
of
Austin.
They
want
to
be
here,
so
we
decided
to
take
our
housing
plan
and
kind
of
go
big
with
it
and
create
a
housing
plan.
B
They
had
to
create
53
thousand
units
of
new
housing
by
the
year
2030
we
broken
into
different
areas
of
housing
by
building
student
housing
in
the
Kenmore
area
and
the
Mission
Hill
area
and
around
comma
area
to
get
people
out
of
it.
Awesome
Brighton
to
get
people
out
of
the
houses
in
the
neighborhoods,
open
that
housing
stock
back
up
for
families
and
enforce
and
ask
colleges
to
build
housing
domes.
That
was
one
aspect
of
it.
A
second
aspect
of
it
was
to
take
city-owned
land
and
property,
and
how
do
we
best
develop
it?
B
Another
aspect
is
senior
housing,
creating
more
opportunities
for
our
seniors,
because
we
felt
that,
if
seniors,
that
live
in
an
apartment
today
or
owned
a
home
and
they
have
an
opportunity
to
maybe
sell
that
home
or
rent
their
home
out
or
allow
families
to
go
into
their
home.
Where
do
we
put
our
seniors?
We
want
to
keep
them
in
the
City
of
Austin
and
that's
what
an
example
is
here.
It's
creating,
affordable
housing.
It
is
for
especially
for
our
city.
It
is
so
important
and
it
is
a
top
priority.
B
We
want
to
make
sure
that
they
can
stay
in
their
neighborhoods
and
live
with
dignity
and
in
this
neighborhood
right
here
seniors
can
walk
the
stores
see
as
can
walk
to
Dunkin
Donuts
seniors
can
walk
to
the
park,
see
as
can
walk
to
the
beach
seniors,
can
walk
to
the
train
stations.
It's
all
in
this
neighborhood
and
it's
a
perfect
location
for
people
that
are
older,
Bostonians
that
are
very
active
still
that
want
to
be
part
of
our
community
and
that's
what
this
project
really
does
and
I
want
to.
B
I
want
to
thank
everyone
for
making
this
happen.
We're
seeing
our
demand
for
housing
grow
we're
seeing
our
population
grow,
we're
on
track
right
now,
in
Boston
our
original
goal
was
we
thought
we
were
going
to
have
700,000
people
in
the
city
of
Boston
by
the
year
2030
right
now,
I'll
go
for
2030,
we're
gonna
have
760
thousand
people
living
in
the
city
of
Boston,
and
we
have
to
continue
to
think
about
making
sure
that
we
have
a
diversity
of
housing
for
the
folks
that
want
to
live
in
the
city
of
Boston.
B
We
must
be
prepared
for
this
growth
and
we
need
to
make
sure
there
are
housing
options
for
every
single
person
that
wants
to
live
in
the
city
of
Boston,
as
I
mentioned
earlier,
we
up
to
a
housing
goal
from
53,000
to
69
thousand
units
by
the
year
2030,
but,
most
importantly,
in
that
plan
we
raised
our
target
for
affordability.
In
that
plan,
we're
really
focusing
on
the
affordability
aspect.
We
were
able
to
make
some
changes
with
inclusionary
development
to
raise
100
over
100
million
dollars.
B
We
are
not
alone
and
I
want
to
thank
the
congressman,
committed
saying
we
need
to
do
this
and
he
liked
more
than
most
of
us.
He
goes
around
the
country
and
he
sees
what's
happening
in
other
places
and
wherever
you
go,
we
can
close
her
eyes
and
show
up
in
Iowa.
We
can
show
up
on
Wisconsin.
We
can
show
up
in
Alabama.
We
can
show
up
in
Mississippi
the
issue
that
we're
facing
with
here.
B
Building
a
housing,
affordable
housing
is
the
same
issue
across
the
United
States
of
America,
so
Congress
I
want
to
thank
you
for
that
and
I
want
to.
Thank
you
for
what
you're
gonna
do
this
project
is
gonna
bring
46
one-bedroom
units
for
income
eligible
seniors.
It's
going
to
bring
amenities,
as
I
said,
to
transportation.
I
want
to
thank
the
Boston
Housing
Authority
I
wanna
thank
Billy
Milano,
who
honestly
is
an
incredible
leader
here.
B
Providing
22
vouchers
provide
long-term
funding
for
very
low-income
units,
in
addition
to
generously
donating
this
land,
so
we're
taking
a
piece
of
land,
we're
investing
22
vouchers.
The
city
of
Boston
is
putting
money
where
I'm
others
saying
this
is
exactly
what
we
have
to
do
and
we're
excited
about
this.
So
I
want
to
again
thank
everyone.
This
is
not
easy.
B
Putting
a
project
like
this
together
is
not
easy
and
Shona
Brown
and
the
sub
Boston
Neighborhood
Development
Corporation
has
been
doing
projects
like
this
for
a
long
time
and
working
it
takes
a
while,
but
I
want
to.
Thank
you.
Don
I,
want
to
thank
you.
Moc
and
I
want
to
thank
you,
Billy
and
Sheila
for
continuing
to
push
push
push
we're
gonna
push.
B
A
Thank
You
mr.
mayor,
our
next
speaker,
I'm
delighted
that
Congress
is
in
session
for
the
moment
he's
not
down
in
DC,
so
he's
back
in
in
the
neighborhood
here
with
us.
He
certainly
needs
no
introduction
in
this
neighborhood
and
in
his
district
he
too
is
a
product
of
public
housing,
the
NM
lynch
homes
across
the
way.
A
On
the
other
side
of
the
rotary
here
so
and
as
the
mayor
mentioned,
the
congressman
was
here
last
summer
at
Hanlon
challenge,
with
congressman
Jefferies
from
New
York,
announcing
the
Democratic
plan
for
ensuring
that
there
was
adequate
financing
and
financial
commitment
to
affordable
housing.
If
the
Democrats
had
taken
control
of
the
house
and
I'm
delighted
to
say
that,
as
we
all
know,
that
did
happen,
so
it's
a
pleasure
to
have
them
in
the
neighborhood
back
from
DC
our
congressman,
my
congressman,
congressman
Stephen
Lynch.
C
Thank
you
very
much,
mr.
mayor.
Thank
you
for
your
kind
remarks.
Councillor
Baker,
Council,
Flint,
council
clarity.
My
colleagues
in
government,
representative,
David,
Beale
I.
Don't
want
to
repeat
everything
that
the
mayor
said.
Although
I
agree
with
all
of
it,
you
know
46
units
of
housing
for
people
62
and
over
works
for
a
guy
who's,
63
years
old
and
we
do
need
the
mayor
is
spot
on
as
usual,
with
the
focus
on
on
our
seniors
and
making
sure
they
have
an
opportunity
to
stay
in
the
community
between
Southie
and
Dorchester.
C
We
have
25,000
seniors
who
would
qualify
for
this
housing,
almost
50%
48%
of
those
seniors,
rent
they're
in
rental
housing,
so
you
realize,
is
people
get
older?
You
retire?
How
do
you
maintain?
You
know
the
ability
to
pay
your
rent
when
the
rents
keep
going
up
and
you're
in
rental
housing,
so
the
22
voters
that
bill
McGonagall
is
providing
and
the
great
work
that
is
being
done
here.
There's
also
been
sort
of
a
linkage
on
a
couple
of
accounts.
C
The
mayor
and
Sheila
Dillon
were
kind
enough
to
link
us
up
with
John
Cronin's
project
off
site,
so
that
John
Cronin
is
is
paying
into
this
project
rather
than
trying
to
build.
You
know:
affordable
housing
off
on
another
site.
You
know
down
near
the
waterfront.
This
is
our
neighborhood.
This
is
our
neighborhood
and
there's
a
real
connection
here,
especially
for
seniors.
You
know,
like
the
mayor,
was
saying,
being
able
to
walk
down
a
Dunkin
Donuts,
but
you
know
we'll
walk
up
the
street
to
the
supermarket.
C
C
So
we've
got
a
great
opportunity
here.
I
think
that
this
is.
This
is
part
of
the
mayor's
plan
and
you
know
I
fully
endorse
it.
I
think
that
he's
got
a
you
know
coming
from
the
neighborhoods
as
he
does
looking
at
his
old
fit
his
home,
his
own
family,
and
you
know
the
course
of
their
lives
in
Dorchester
and
just
trying
to
maintain
that
fabric
and
the
family
and
making
sure
that
people
can
stay
in
the
same
community.
He
gets
it
and
we're
blessed
to
have
him
and
I
100%
endorse
everything.
That's
going
on
here.
C
We've
got
a
lot
of
work
to
do.
I,
don't
want
to
say
that
our
Hakeem
Jeffries,
who
is
our
partner
here
in
South,
Boston
and
Dorchester
on
affordable
housing,
was
just
elected.
We
could
go
to
the
head
of
the
Democratic
caucus,
so
he
understands
public
housing.
He
grew
up
in
public
housing
like
like
I
did
and
we
couldn't
have
a
better
partner.
I
actually
do
think
that
with
the
Democratic
take
over
the
house,
we
will
reintroduce
and
reinvigorate
the
mission
of
public
housing
in
our
country.
So
thank
you
for.
A
Kate
Bennett
from
the
VFD
escape
I,
often
say
that
and
I
say
it
because
it's
true
is
that
she's
the
brains
at
the
VHA,
but
let
us
all
be
aware
of
that,
and
we
would
certainly
not
be
here
today
without
our
effort
working
with
co-developers
here.
I'd
also
like
to
recognize
yolanda
dela
cruz,
the
new
executive
director
of
South
Boston
in
accion.
A
Working
very
vigorously
with
our
residents
and
all
three
of
our
family
public
housing
developments
here
in
Southie,
and
next
speakers
display
a
pleasure
for
me
to
introduce
Donna
Donna
Brown,
the
executive
director
of
the
South
Boston
community,
Neighborhood
Development,
Corporation
Donna,
has
been
at
this
for
several
years.
She
has
in
addition
to
this
project.
A
She
is
responsible
with
Marc
with
the
Patriots
homes,
the
veterans
housing
that
we
have
upon
D
Street
and
our
commitment
to
this
neighborhood
and
to
ensuring,
as
the
mayor
and
the
congressman
said,
that
folks
that
have
lived
in
this
neighborhood
are
able
to
stay
in
this
neighborhood
elderly
folks
that
have
built
this
neighborhood
built.
This
city
can
stay
in
this
neighborhood.
In
addition
to
her
commitment
to
so
Boston
Neighborhood
Development
she's
also
a
neighbor.
She
lives
here
in
South
Boston,
so
it's
I'm
delighted
to
introduce
our
development
partner.
Please
a
warm
welcome
of
Donna
Brown.
D
D
So
I
also
want
to
acknowledge
our
partner
Caritas
communities
again.
This
is
the
third
deal
we've
done
with
Caritas
and
we
will
create
over
80
units
of
housing
together
when
we're
done
with
this
project,
and
we
hope
to
do
many
more
together.
We
partnered
with
Cronin
group
with
John
Cronin
and
Michael
Kennedy
to
leverage
the
affordable
housing
IDP
commitment
from
the
waterfront,
and
also
combined
it
with
Tishman
Speyer
spear
for
waterfront
development
to
take
those
funds
and
and
I
totally
agreed
that
we
should
have
a
diversified
waterfront.
D
But
this
leveraged
and
affordability
that
you
just
can't
get
to
when
you
keep
those
units
on
site
on
the
waterfront.
So
it
also
is
going
to
create
affordable
senior
housing
so
that
BHA
residents,
who
are
over
house
who
may
have
raised
their
families
and
are
in
a
building
in
Mary,
Ellen,
McCormick
or
another
BHA
property
that,
where
they're
in
a
walk-up
unit
and
they're
aging
that
they
can
apply
for
these
units
here
and
not
only
move
to
housing,
that's
more
suitable
for
aging
seniors,
but
also
free
up
those
units
for
families
that
really
need
them.
D
So
we
just
feel
like
this
is
a
win
all
the
way
around
and
where
it's
so
thrilled
to
be
to
have
a
mayor
who
supports
an
affordable
housing
mission
here
in
the
city.
It
no
matter
when
we
have
a
project,
it's
d-md
staff,
PHA
staff,
the
mayor's
office,
our
elected
officials,
are
there
supporting
us,
and
that
is
what
makes
these
projects
happen.
So
I
want
to
introduce
mark
wing
Keller
who
is
going
to
acknowledge
some
more
of
our
funders
and
thank
you
again
for
being
here
today.
E
I,
don't
talk
as
long
cold,
I'm
cold,
but
I
didn't
is
everyone
knows
who's
involved
in
the
project.
It
takes
a
lot
of
people,
it
gets
us
done.
It
takes
a
lot
of
institutions
and
a
lot
of
people.
I
just
want
to
run
through
a
few
names,
because
one
thing
we
all
know
it's
easy
to
credit
the
actual
entity,
but
there
are
people,
do
the
work
and
so
I
think
that
some
of
those
folks
I've
certainly
really
got
some
names.
E
I
apologize,
but
a
DHCD,
Kate
Dean
told
my
aunt
Jill
Chan,
Rocklin
trust
with
your
Ida
and
id8
Boston
capital,
our
partner
to
another
transaction
Peter,
Flynn
O'connor
Hilton
mass
development,
who
should
the
bonds
Tony
fracaso.
We
thank
this
one.
Farnsworth
press
foundation
is
also
minutes.
I.
Think
Donna
has
really
something
is
up
pretty
well,
we've
done
three
projects
together
on
public
lands,
we've
got
housing
that
some
people
thought
would
not
get
done,
and
we've
been
able
to
house
people
who
would
narrowly
juveniles
a
neighborhood,
because
anybody
was
familiar
with
the
real
estate
market
knows.
E
South
Boston
is
a
Hartford
of
development,
a
Hartford
of
rising
rents
and
the
people
who
grew
up
there
and
made
people
live
there
today.
The
incomes
aren't
going
up
to
keep
pace
just
can't
happen,
so
we
are
delighted
to
a
partner
with
Donna
which
led
to
partner
with
all
you
who
put
over
this
good
a
long,
long
struggle,
but
we
got
it
done
and
can't
wait
to
see
you
guys
at
the
ground.
Isn't
we've
been
cutting
which
he'd
be
more
exciting,
so
thank
you
all.
A
Thank
you,
Mike
the
mayor
and
the
congressman
have
all
recognized
our
elected
officials
that
are
here
today.
I
would
like
to
thank
them
for
coming,
but
I
would
also
like
to
recognize
senator
Nick
Collins.
He
texted
me
this
morning.
He
is
not
feeling
well
there's
some
bug
going
through
the
family,
so
he
is
at
home,
so
but
I
did
want
to
thank
him
as
well
for
his
support
for
this
program.
So
at
this
juncture,
are
we
going
to
this
one
to
six
shovels?