EQUITY THROUGH COMMUNITY WELL-BEING

BUILDING THE CARPE DIEM FUND

For decades, it’s been a struggle to find affordable rental housing in Boston. Today it’s almost impossible. To rent a median-priced one-bedroom apartment in Boston, you need an annual income of more than $85,000—and demand for the limited number of subsidized units is fierce, with the burden falling disproportionately on residents of color.

The Carpe Diem Fund is creating a source of agile, responsive capital to help local organizations purchase occupied housing and preserve affordable units. The initial investment in the Fund was made possible through a partnership with Boston Medical Center, which was chosen by the national Center for Community Investment to form a Boston team of housing stakeholders, including TBF, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The goal is to build community well-being by purchasing affordable housing units and supporting Black- and Brown-owned businesses and creative spaces. It’s a bow to the way communities really work— and an idea whose time has come.

PAO ARTS CENTER’S FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

CHINATOWN’S PAO ARTS CENTER CELEBRATED ITS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY WITH THE UNVEILING OF AN ART INSTALLATION BY ARTIST WING-ZI THAT OFFERS A GATHERING AND PERFORMANCE SPACE ON THE GREENWAY. IT’S AN EXAMPLE OF A DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY WELL-BEING THAT HAS BEEN EMBRACED BY THE BOSTON FOUNDATION THROUGH THE NEW CARPE DIEM FUND (PAGE 10).

Photos by Lee-Daniel Tran