Page 2 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2023 Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board sets goals By Barbara Taormina he Board of the city’s Aff ordable Housing Trust Fund has set a goal to work with other groups and organizations whose mission includes the creation and preservation T of aff ordable housing for lowincome and vulnerable residents. At their last meeting, board members met with Lor Holmes of the Revere Housing Coalition and found their interests and goals were in sync. Joseph ANGELO’S FULL SERVICE 1978-2023 Celebrating 45 Years in Business! 197 Regular Unleaded $3.059 MidUnleaded $3.979 Super $4.099 Diesel Fuel $4.249 KERO By Container Only Heating Oil at the Pump DEF $4.759 HEATING OIL 24-Hour Burner Service Call for Current Price! (125—gallon minimum) DEF Available by Pump! Open an account and order online at: www.angelosoil.com (781) 231-3500 (781) 231-3003 367 LINCOLN A A Sun. 9AM-5PM Gravellese, chair of the Aff ordable Housing Trust Fund Board, asked Holmes about the coalition’s history and goals. Holmes said the coalition evolved out of community conversations with residents involved with the city’s master plan, Next Stop Revere. Residents shared a concern about the need for affordable housing and a collective sense that longtime Revere residents were being left out of the highend housing development taking place in the city. Holmes said low-income, elderly and disabled residents were being displaced. “We need to fi ght for the residents’ right to remain in the community,” she said. One of the central goals of the Aff ordable Housing Trust Fund is to provide support for low-income, elderly and disabled residents to remain in their homes. Board members have been talking about emergency assistance for renters and homeowners at risk of losing their homes, education and assistance for fi rst-time home buyers, programs to assist with home repairs, and creating housing to meet the needs of the workforce. Gravellese and Holmes agree that talking with other housing advocacy groups in surrounding communities has been valuable and there is much to learn about existing programs and resources. The Trust Fund Board will be voting at their next meeting on whether to spend $7,500 on a housing production plan. Tom Skwierawski, Revere’s chief of planning and community development, urged the board to invest in the plan, which will catalog all the city’s available housing development opportunities. Gravellese asked about the plan’s inclusion of consultants for the Trust Fund Board. He said that while board members have ideas of directions they want to go, they would welcome help with the logistics of setting up a fair and equitable loan or home repair program or sources of existing state and federal funding for housing. The Trust Fund Board is still fi ne-tuning its mission statement and goals. Gravellese was asked if the board’s modus operandi would accompany those goals. However, board member Anayo Osueke, who will oversee the fund’s fi nances, said his fi nancial reporting and bookkeeping would be guided by the city’s fi nancial and legal departments. While the board has diff erent task and plans ahead, Gravellese stressed repeatedly that the fund was meant to focus on providing aff ordable housing and housing assistance to low-income, elderly and disabled residents to keep them in Revere. Better Business Bureau Scam Alert: How to Spot A Dating Scam On Social Media R omance scams are more common than ever. 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