A new home and fresh start for Dorchester resident

Serghino René

While skimming through the pages of the Bay State Banner, 28-year-old Tracey Moore of Dorchester saw an advertisement for an affordable housing lottery placed by the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND).

A health coordinator at the Crispus Attucks Children’s Center and a single mother of a 5-year-old daughter, Moore jumped at the opportunity to own her own home. She figured her chances were slim to none, but she had nothing to lose.

So she applied to buy a home at less than market rate through a unique home ownership program created by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) through the Hyde/Jackson Homes project. From a pool of 180 potential first-time homebuyers, the program would select 11. Moore was initially told that she was number 17 on the list.

But then the unexpected happened. Several people dropped out for a variety of reasons.

Moore received the telephone call in September. The house on 13 Armstrong Street in Jamaica Plain was hers if she wanted it. It was an exciting moment for Moore.

“I had looked at a condo earlier in the year and decided it wasn’t right,” Moore said. “But I never imagined that I would own a house all on my own.”

The JPNDC held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week in front of one of the newly constructed homes on 11-15 Ashley Street in Jamaica Plain. Among those in attendance were Mayor Thomas M. Menino and DND Director Charlotte Golar Richie.

The median price for a single-family home in Jamaica Plain is more than $500,000, according to the JPNDC. The neighborhood organization built the new homes on former city-owned lots scattered throughout the Hyde/Jackson district of Jamaica Plain for low- and moderate-income families. Seven homes will be available to families earning below 80 percent of area median income (AMI). Additional funding by the JPNDC has secured four units available to families earning less than half of AMI, approximately $42,000 for a family of four.

“For years, people have worked hard to turn the community around and make it what it is today,” said JPNDC Executive Director Richard Thal. “Today, more people are finding that there are fewer chances for them to stay because prices are going sky high.”

In the meantime, Moore is preparing to leave her Dorchester apartment on American Legion Highway and move to a neighborhood in which she said she never thought she could afford to live.

She says homeownership will allow her to pursue her educational and career goals. In pursuit of a health career, she is now taking classes at Roxbury Community College and will attend Curry College in the spring. She has already earned certificates to work as a medical assistant and phlebotomist.

“I’ve never lived in Jamaica Plain, but I love to go to The Milky Way and Miami,” said Moore, referring to the two popular local restaurants.