Great Barrington Affordable Housing Trust Fund & Construct to Provide Emergency Rental Assistance

The Town of Great Barrington’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund is partnering with Construct, Inc. to provide emergency rental assistance to Great Barrington tenants and landlords who find themselves financially struggling during the COVID-19 crisis. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is allocating funds received from the local Community Preservation Act surcharge and granted to the Trust in a previous Annual Town Meeting.

The application will be available, in English and Spanish, by April 10th, on Construct’s website (www.constructinc.org). Construct has interpretive services as needed. The application will also be available on Trust’s website (www.gbhousing.org) and the Town website (www.townofgb.org).

To qualify, households need to be earning less than 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI).  While the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will provide funds, Construct will administer the program. This partnership also ensures that residents will get connected to existing resources, as need is demonstrated.

June Wolfe, of Construct, noted that, “Housing is healthcare,” and that by helping residents stay in their homes, and helping landlords make the income they need to keep the home or apartment safe and habitable; everybody wins. Jane Ralph noted this will help shore up the local economy by maintaining cash flow and helping “mom and pop” landlords, who may not have the same level of resources available to them, to help alleviate pressure on their tenants. Bill Cooke, Chair of the Trust commented, “Having funds on hand, allowed the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to respond quickly to this crisis.”

This fund is in addition to the Trust’s Down Payment Assistance program which is available to homebuyers making up to 100% of the Area Median Income.

For questions, please contact:

Jane Ralph (jralph@constructberkshire.org) or June Wolfe (jwolfe@constructberkshire.org) of Construct, Inc. (413) 429-4340

Chris Rembold (crembold@townofgb.org) or Bill Cooke (bcooke@townofgb.org)