June 17, 1999

Realtors, bank, CASCAP create assistance fund

People in need of affordable apartments often go without in Cambridge because of the high cost of moving in. That is the finding of CASCAP, Inc. a non-profit organization that has taken up the plight of the homeless and near-homeless with the aid of some powerful partners.

Cambridge-based CASCAP estimates at least 10-to-15 families a month lose access to an affordable apartment because of their inability to save enough money to pay for start up costs.

The major problem these people have is coming up with the first and last months rent, security deposits and realtor's fees, according to Susan Marshall, development coordinator of CASCAP. For the homeless and working poor, those homes may as well be on the moon.

"For a family of four, the cost of moving into a new apartment can cost about $4,000 in Cambridge," Marshall said, and even if clients could get assistance from other programs to pay the initial costs, the realtor's fees, in most cases, are exempt.

"So we went to the realtors, who hold the keys to most of the rental properties, hoping we could get them to wave their fees," said Marshall.

Soon, Marshall and CASCAP found themselves partners with the Cambridge Council of Realtors. Together with the Cambridge Housing Assistance Program, they created the Cambridge Housing Assistance Fund to help homeless and near-homeless Cantabrigians.

The fund provides loans and grants to Cambridge residents defer any costs associated with moving into a new home, including deposits, rent, realtors' fees, moving costs, storage and utility bills.

Ilona Kuphal, president of the Cambridge Council of Realtors, had been looking for a way to become more involved in the community when she was approached by CASCAP.

"When I was invited to be on the fair housing board of Cambridge," she said, "I asked 'as the realtors of the city what can we do?' The people from CASCAP said 'we have this problem.'"

The council made an initial donation of $5,000, which has helped nine families secure housing. This October, the council will attempt to raise $100,000 for the fund with a jazz concert at the Sanders Theatre.

"What we would like to do is make it a yearly Cambridge event, because the problem affects all of us," said Kuphal. "People who have lived here for decades are being forced to moved since the end of rent control. It makes it very difficult for people to live. here. The more people who leave the more it will change."

The Cambridgeport Bank also is contributing to the fund by making personal loans available to clients of CASCAP and the Cambridge Multi-Service Center for the Homeless.

"In a effort to stretch the money, the Cambridgeport Bank has come to the table with loans and will use a portion of the fund as the guarantee of the loan," Marshall said. "A person might come to us asking for $4,000, and they might be able to get $3,000, but through our agreement with the bank, we may be able to arrange a loan for the other thousand.

"They really opened the fund up so any financial impediment will be eliminated," she continued. "Clients can use the money for realtors' fees, utility activation, refrigerator purchase, moving costs."

One of the benefactors was overjoyed to get the help she needed in April.

Marie Byrne couldn't pay her rent anymore and quickly received an eviction notice. The rent on her two bedroom North Cambridge apartment had gone up $350. She had an enormous electric and gas bill, hundreds of dollars to pay before she could get utilities in a new place, assuming she found one accommodating to a welfare mother and her three kids.

She had to find a way to come up with first and last months rent, security deposit and the realtor fees. Byrne, 34, had visions of living on the streets where she would care for her 10-year-old daughter, her 8-year-old girl with special needs and her 21-month-old son as best she could.

"I'd probably be in the shelter right now if it wasn't for CASCAP and the the other agencies that helped me," Byrne said.

Marshall hopes their campaign to help people stay in Cambridge and get a second chance will grow into a citywide effort.

"We are looking for volunteers, corporate sponsors, anyone who wants to help with the concert in October, and anyone in the Cambridge community of neighbors who would like to join in and help," Marshall said. "We could sure use the help."

For more information, Ilona Kuphal at 864-8566 ext. 247. Anyone interested in contributing can send a check payable to the Cambridge Housing Assistance Fund, 171 Huron Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02138. All contributions go to the clients and are tax deductible.

This article originally appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle.