The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has announced a $2 million award to Worcester Community Housing Resources, Inc. (WCHR) as part of the relaunch of the Receivership Expense Assistance for Creating Housing (REACH) program. The initiative aims to support the rehabilitation of neglected residential properties and expand affordable housing across Massachusetts.
WCHR, a nonprofit organization based in Worcester, will serve as the fund administrator for REACH. In this role, WCHR will provide loans to receivers statewide who are responsible for overseeing property rehabilitation projects. These efforts are intended to revitalize neighborhoods, increase available housing units, and potentially create new opportunities for affordable homeownership.
Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said, “The REACH program is an important tool in addressing our affordable housing crisis, offering critical funding that brings abandoned and blighted properties back into use. I am proud to announce Worcester Community Housing Resources as the administrator of this program and am confident that with their partnership we will be able to expand housing opportunities and make our neighborhoods safer, more beautiful places to live.”
N. Paul TonThat, Executive Director of WCHR, added: “We are excited to partner with Attorney General Campbell’s office to help put neglected homes back into use. Revitalizing homes revitalizes communities and is an important tool to increase the supply of affordable housing in our cities, suburbs, and towns.”
Loans from the REACH program are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested receivers can contact Maureen Flynn at WCHR via email at mflynn@wchr.org for more information about applying.
Previously known as the Abandoned Housing Initiative Receivership Fund (AHIR), the program allowed receivers to borrow up to $100,000 per affordable housing project or $75,000 for market-rate projects. Under REACH’s updated guidelines, receivers may now borrow up to $250,000 per project. The program also offers partial loan forgiveness—up to 10% on market-rate projects and 15% on affordable housing projects where rehabilitation costs exceed sale prices.
Since its inception in 2013 under AHIR guidelines, over $9 million has been loaned through these programs resulting in repairs at 109 blighted properties and returning 214 housing units into active use.
The AGO’s Neighborhood Renewal Division administers REACH using enforcement authority from the State Sanitary Code to address abandoned residential properties by encouraging voluntary repairs or petitioning courts for receiver appointments when necessary.
Under Attorney General Campbell’s leadership, approximately $1.46 million in previously unpaid property taxes and municipal fees have been recovered through these efforts; additionally NRD has completed revitalization processes on 75 properties throughout Massachusetts.
