To the editor: I was pleased to read in Heather Bellow's recent article that the Baker administration “designated [Great Barrington] a Housing Choices community for supporting the creation of new abodes of all types.” ("'Shovels in the ground': Baker gives Great Barrington housing recognition; money to follow," Eagle, April 3.)
This will certainly help with the expansion of affordable housing, which is greatly needed. But there are more things that must be done.
Today, only one of four eligible renters can get federal housing assistance. If we make the Housing Choice Voucher program universal, or enact a refundable renters' credit, we can ensure all low-income renters will get housing assistance. We must increase the supply of affordable housing as well as promote homeownership, especially for communities of color.
I ask Rep. Richard Neal and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey to voice support for prioritizing long-term solutions to our housing crisis by making housing assistance universal for eligible low-income renters coupled with measures that increase the supply of housing via the National Housing Trust Fund.
Leslye Heilig, Great Barrington
