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Boston-based nonprofit affordable housing agency Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) has obtained $1.3 million in financing to renovate the 11-unit Residencia Betances in Boston’s South End.
The housing development containing 11 single-room units on Shawmut Avenue serves low-income individuals with mental health issues. IBA will upgrade the property’s brownstone exterior, individual units and common areas.
Financing was provided by the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Housing Preservation Stabilization and Facilities Consolidation fund and the Community Economic Development Assistance Corp. Renovations began in January and are expected to be completed in the fall.
IBA developed the Residencia Betances in 1993 to serve Spanish-speaking residents who are former homeless clients of the Department of Mental Health. The agency collaborates with the DMH on support services, including full-time bilingual staff.
“We want all of our community members to live in an atmosphere that provides the best care and supportive services so they can live quality lives, and this renovation will achieve that,” IBA CEO Vanessa Calderon-Rosado said in a statement.
IBA was founded in 1968 by a group of Puerto Rican activists to preserve affordable housing in the South End.
The Boston Housing Authority in December selected IBA to renovate 146 affordable housing units located in 24 townhouses on West Newton and Rutland streets.
