Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation is one of the organizations that has been at the forefront of this work. I'm privileged to serve as its President and I'm grateful for all the ways that you support the JPNDC's work. I'm also happy to ask for your financial support to continue our work to build affordable homes, help job seekers and small businesses, and organize the community to make sure our voices are heard. As we've celebrated JPNDC's 30th anniversary during the past year, we've shared lots of great memories- long-time partnership with people like Jim Koch and the Boston Beer Company, neighbors who have worked together to transform their streets and blocks, lives that were changed when people found decent jobs or could pursue their dreams as small business owners, vacant lots that are now home to people like Tracy Moore. Working with community residents for the last three decades, the JPNDC has been able to accomplish a lot: building more than 480 affordable homes for seniors and families, helping secure nearly $6 million in loans for local businesses, and redeveloping an abandoned industrial complex into JP's newest destination, The Brewery. All of these accomplishments were possible because of the active involvement of people like you. Rebuilding a community doesn't just happen. It takes work and commitment. That's why I'm asking you to take a moment to renew your commitment- to make an investment in our community by supporting the JPNDC. As we look back and celebrate our history, we're also looking to the future. In the months ahead, we'll be breaking new ground: At the historic Blessed Sacrament campus in Hyde Square, we'll begin work to ensure that this neighborhood landmark continues to serve neighborhood needs. It's one of the largest closed churches in the United States to be redeveloped by a nonprofit organization and we're able to do so because people like you struggled to preserve it. A few blocks away, at the corner of Centre and Lamartine Streets, we'll break ground on 30 new affordable apartments and retail space. This development will revive a sleepy corner and provide needed homes, while offering a preview of the transformation of Jackson Square that will take place over the next several years. At The Brewery, we'll welcome new businesses-including "Pandamonium," a family restaurant and children's entertainment center. At the Sumner Hill House-the former JP High that JPNDC helped to save from becoming luxury condos in the mid-1980s-we're breaking new ground in a different way. As subsidies to ensure affordability expire, we've worked with residents to meet individual families' needs: converting some units to affordable condos and others to market-rate condos, while preserving some as rental units. It's a great example of the creativity and commitment to diversity that makes JP a great place to live. We do have a lot to celebrate. I hope that you will make a generous contribution to the JPNDC today.