2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 85

When John YazWinski got a phone call in
June 2020 from a friend at the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) about a free federal property, he was
immediately intrigued by the opportunity.
Nearly three years later, Yazwinski-president
and CEO of Father Bill's and MainSpring,
a Brockton, Massachusetts nonprofit that
provides housing and services to prevent and
end homelessness-was thrilled to oversee
the groundbreaking of the new $19 million
Housing Resource Center, a campus consisting
of a day center, an emergency shelter, and
efficiency apartments, in addition to space for
wraparound services.
" I had never heard of 'Title V' before this,
which is a program that offers federal surplus
property for free to homeless services providers, "
Yazwinski says. " We competed against
other groups who were interested in the site,
but we have experience in housing development,
as well as services. We immediately
began working with the mayor of Boston,
both of our senators, and the state delegation
to Congress to get their support. "
Although the three-year process was arduous
for Yazwinski and his organization, the
outcome was positive. For others, the Title V
program is both promising and aggravating.
" Title V has been in existence for more
than 30 years, and it states that surplus federal
buildings and property must be evaluated
and made available to nonprofit organizations
and state and local governments to serve
unhoused people, " says Antonia Fasanelli,
executive director of the National Homelessness
Law Center in Washington, D.C. " In our
experience, nonprofit agencies and state and
local governments need developers to assist
them when they want to provide housing for
unhoused people. "
Yazwinski turned to the state government
for funding.
" We explained [that] it was free land and
that we were delivering a new model for
homeless services with our housing resource
center, since it has 24/7 services for preventing
homelessness, " he says. " The site has more
than three acres [1.2 ha], which meant we had
room to build 30 new construction units of
permanent supportive housing. Federal ARPA
[American Rescue Plan Act] funds came
to Massachusetts at just the right time, and
we were able to show them that this was a
shovel-ready project. "
Revisions requested for Title V
Developers, nonprofits, and advocates for
homeless services believe that now is an ideal
time to raise awareness of Title V. According
to HUD, there were 582,462 people experiencing
homelessness in January 2022.
" There's an untapped potential for commercial
real estate developers to partner with
nonprofit groups who have the expertise to
provide services to homeless people, " says
David L. Winstead, a Washington lawyer;
former public buildings commissioner for
The Housing Resource
Center in Brockton
Massachusetts, which
will include housing, a
shelter, and space for
wraparound services,
is now being built
on former federal
land with the help
of funding from the
American Rescue Plan.
FALL 2023
URBAN LAND
85
FEATURES
C OUR TES Y OF F A THER BILL 'S &
MAINSPRING
2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land
