Some issues are bigger than one neighborhood, city, or town. Transportation, housing, climate, jobs, equity, and more.

That’s why your community is part of Greater Boston’s next long-term regional plan, MetroCommon 2050, which is now being developed.

The first step is for us to learn what you think. What you want the region to be like, long term.

Please join us for this drop-in, interactive, expo-style listening session. No lectures, no presentations. Displays and activities about the region and interesting ways for you to tell us what you care about.

For interpretation and other accommodations, please contact Iolando Spinola at 617.933.0713 by Feb. 21.

Registration is encouraged so we have a rough head count, but not required.

Join MAPC to hear from housing organizations, the Department of Housing & Community Development, and Boston and other municipalities on how to respond to residents at risk of eviction or other destabilizing forces during the pandemic.

We’ll learn about the anticipated impacts of expiring eviction moratoria, an overview of the Governor’s Eviction Diversion Initiative, and tenant rights and responsibilities. A panel will then discuss tools available to help residents stay in their homes, how to implement them, and what localities are doing to support residents experiencing housing instability during these unprecedented times.

Speakers will include:
Tim Reardon, Director of Data Services, MAPC
Chris Kluchman, Deputy Director, Community Services Division, DHCD
Tom Ambrosino, City Manager, City of Chelsea
Domonique Williams, Deputy Director, Office of Housing Stability, City of Boston
Chris Cotter, Housing Director, City of Cambridge
Keith Benoit, Community Development Planner, City of Northampton

The Commonwealth recently announced that residents and staff of public and subsidized senior housing are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as part of the first tier of Phase II of the vaccine rollout. This step is anticipated to begin later this month.

With this opportunity comes the need to quickly arrange vaccination opportunities for some of state’s most vulnerable residents. This requires coordination among three groups: municipal officials and staff, including local boards of health; owners and managers of public and subsidized senior housing, including local housing authorities; and medical providers who can staff clinics and vaccinate residents.

Please join us on Tuesday, February 9 to learn how cities and towns can support vaccination in senior housing facilities.

Webinar speakers will include:
Robin Lipson, Deputy Secretary, Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Emily Cooper, Chief Housing Officer, Executive Office of Elder Affairs

There will be an opportunity to ask questions!
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More information from the Commonwealth on COVID-19 vaccinations for senior housing setting is available here.

Register Here

We invite you to join the MetroWest Collaborative at MAPC for our annual trails forum. Our host this year is the City of Framingham. The forum will provide an update of regional trail accomplishments and share progress in Framingham for linking the downtown, Farm Pond, Cushing Park and other City destinations with a connected trail network.

The event includes breakfast, a welcome by Mayor Sisitsky, several presentations, and a walking tour of trail projects adjacent.

Specific milestones to be celebrated this year:

• The City recently completed the purchase of the CSX right-of-way to extend the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham
• Purchase agreement for ~50 acres of conservation land on the Framingham/Sherborn line that will provide key trail connections
• The East Coast Greenway has relocated their route in 2023 to pass through Framingham

Optional afternoon walking tours look at two additional locations in Framingham where we are looking to create a continuous shared use path between the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Upper Charles Trail

Agenda:

8:15 a.m. – Breakfast and mingling

9:00 a.m. –  Welcome and Introductions

9:15 a.m. –  Metrowest Greenway status report from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council

10:00 a.m. –  Framingham Trails Focus

11:00 a.m. –  Walking Tour of current and proposed trail projects (about 2 miles long adjacent to Cushing Park). The tour will include the following projects or trails:

• Sudbury Aqueduct
• Chris Walsh Trail
• Framingham Station Access
• Development projects and trail potential

12:30 p.m. –  Formal event ends with additional optional walking tours after lunch

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break for those continuing the afternoon tours

Afternoon Walking Tours:

Walking Tour #1 at 1:30 p.m. –  South Framingham to Sherborn (Meet at Bates Park on Bates Road)

Walking Tour #2 at 3:00 p.m. – Bruce Freeman across Route 9 to Framingham State University (Meet at Oak St in front of Village Hall)

Join us for the launch of MAPC’s Access Language Guide for Municipalities, a tool to support establishing your Language Access practices. We are excited to announce that Massachusetts State Senator Sal DiDomenico will be joining us as Keynote Speaker for this event!

Learn about:

• Developing an understanding of the needs of your linguistic communities and how to respond to them,
• First steps you can take towards establishing language access in your community,
• The intersection of Language & Disability Access,
• How to staff for Language Access, and
• Language Access and Events, and so much more!

This Guide will help support you in taking your language access work beyond providing interpretation and translation services within your community to:

• Developing trust with people who speak different languages,
• Creating opportunities to celebrate people’s cultures,
• Investing in building the skills of community members.

Register for this virtual event

Questions? Please contact:
Sasha Parodi (sparodi@mapc.org) and
Najee Nunnally (nnunnally@mapc.org)