Community Engagement

Community engagement will be a recurring feature of developing the new Housing Production Plan (HPP). While housing data and a variety of government, academic, and institutional resources play an important part in a project like this, the personal knowledge and lived experiences of people familiar with Nantucket matter even more. The engagement process will be conducted primarily through community consultation and participation and is designed with the following purposes:

• Evaluate progress under the 2021 HPP.
• Identify and involve the people and organizations with an interest in affordable housing and fair housing on Nantucket.
• Learn from residents and others familiar with the town about the housing needs of low- or moderate-income people, year-round residents, the local workforce, and others.
• Examine whether unmet needs for affordable housing have disproportionately affected particular groups.
• Consult with service agencies, providers, and faith-based organizations that provide housing and social services in Nantucket to understand what they see as affordable housing opportunities and constraints in the community.
• Present information and ideas to the community and hear their feedback.
• Identify solutions for meeting Nantucket’s unique housing needs and solicit input on these ideas.
• Convey the results of the planning process to the community, the organizations involved with housing services in Nantucket, and the Town’s decision-makers.

The engagement process will seek broad participation from community members. Broad participation matters because housing is a highly contentious topic in every city and town, and people disagree about the best ways to address housing needs. While the term “housing needs” is also broad, an HPP focuses on the needs of low- or moderate-income people. Accordingly, the engagement process is designed to understand the housing affordability problems that exist in Nantucket, primarily, but not exclusively, those related to low- or moderate-income affordability.

People with an interest in the HPP and its outcomes will have opportunities to participate in the planning process. As used in this HPP, “stakeholder” and “advocates” include, but are not limited to:

Stakeholders

• Low- or moderate-income people who need affordable homes.
• Tenants of the Nantucket Housing Authority or non-profit housing organizations.
• Cost-burdened residents.
• Employees and town workforce.
• Senior and elderly residents
• Neighborhood associations.
• People who have experienced housing discrimination because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, faith, age, disability, family status, or other characteristics.
• Others identified as “missing” throughout the engagement process.

Advocates and established community relationships:

• Organizations serving low- or moderate-income people, Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, people with disabilities, older adults and frail elders, and other members of protected classes.
• Agencies and non-profit organizations that promote housing affordability, housing justice, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Nantucket Housing Authority and other mission-based or non-profit housing providers.
• Town Departments, Boards, and Committees.
• Nantucket Cottage Hospital and other healthcare institutions.
• Private and non-profit developers.
• Faith-based communities.