The New England Elderly Housing Association (NEEHA) is a membership organization for professionals involved in housing the elderly. The organization is dedicated to providing members with opportunities to improve their management skills and resident support practices and to working with other organizations and individuals to preserve the rights of elders to age comfortably and with dignity.

Founded in 1974, NEEHA is an unincorporated nonprofit association with a broad membership including housing managers and administrators, social service coordinators, superintendents, and maintenance staff, housing management companies, and government agencies. In addition, vendors, consultants, and professionals serving the elderly in other settings contribute to the diversity of our membership.

NEEHA welcomes all types of senior housing alternatives, including continuing care retirement communities and assisted living developments. Many member facilities are publicly financed through the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

March 2007

Dear Housing Professional:

Recently, I attended a meeting on the "Expiring Use" mortgages used to develop affordable housing in Massachusetts. In the 1970's, these projects were developed by private developers and financed through state and federal subsidy programs. Low-interest mortgages were provided with the requirement that the housing built would be affordable for thirty to forty years. These affordability requirements are now close to expiring. Owners have the option to renew the rental assistance contracts, or not to renew. Some are opting out of affordability, the result of which is the loss of valuable affordable housing.

85% of the current residents of these properties are seniors or people with disabilities. This population continues to grow, creating the need for more affordable housing, not less. In Massachusetts, over five thousand units have already been lost, with almost twenty two thousand units at risk in the next three years. The Bush administration is continuing to focus the majority of the HUD's attention on homeownership and not on affordable rental housing. This, coupled with President Bush's 31% cut to Section 202 Elderly Housing Development, should be of great concern to all of us as professionals in the affordable housing industry.

As professionals, we need to ask ourselves; how can we support the effort to save affordable housing for our elderly population?

By becoming a member of NEEHA, or renewing your membership, you are linking yourself to a vibrant organization which provides its' members with opportunities to strengthen their housing communities through training, networking, and advocacy.

Each year, we provide members with at least 5 trainings on topics such as: Disaster Planning, The Political and Practical issues of Immigration, Investigating Fraud in Elderly Housing, and Community Policing and Elder Affairs: Safety in Housing. NEEHA members enjoy networking opportunities at our meetings and online. Members are able to e-mail the entire membership with questions about any housing-related topic. At meetings, we have the opportunity to get to know one another and each other's housing sites, broadening our understanding of each other's practices. NEEHA is a member of the Coalition on Senior Housing, an organization that advocates "for the creation of accessible, affordable and appropriately supported housing to enable seniors to age in the community while maintaining the highest level of dignity and independence". Our membership in this organization ensures that we are up to date on pertinent legislative issues affecting our housing.

The value of NEEHA membership is clear. If you are currently a member, we thank you for continuing your membership in NEEHA in 2007. If you are not a member, we sincerely hope to welcome you to our organization this year.

Sincerely,

Bessie Payne, ARM
President, NEEHA

A volunteer organization of administrative and social service professionals, representing some 10,000 units of both non-profit and proprietary housing, whose purpose is to enhance the quality of life for the elderly and handicapped through programs of education and advocacy