On Monday, March 25, 2024, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) applauded the final passage of $850,000 in federal community project funding for The Pryde, an affordable housing development for LGBTQ+ seniors in Hyde Park. The funding was included in the most recent series of government funding bills and was passed after Rep. Pressley worked closely with Senators Warren and Markey to secure the funding after Republicans callously stripped it from a House appropriations bill last summer.
“Republicans did everything they could to target, attack, and dehumanize our LGBTQ+ siblings and deny our communities the resources they deserve—but we made sure they didn’t have the final word,” said Congresswoman Pressley. “With the cost of housing skyrocketing and one-third of LGBTQ+ seniors living in poverty nationwide, this project will help LGBTQ+ elders in the Massachusetts 7th get the affordable housing and community space they need while affirming their dignity and humanity. I promised our community that we wouldn’t stop fighting for them, and I was proud to partner with Senators Warren and Markey to reject Republicans’ cruelty and get this done.”
“With this funding package, we sent a clear message to Republicans – we won’t let them get in the way of the LGBTQ community getting the resources they deserve,” said Senator Warren. “Senator Markey, Representative Pressley, and I fought hard to bring this funding to Hyde Park. Our LGBTQ seniors deserve affordable housing that embraces their identities with dignity and compassion.”
“We have a moral responsibility to ensure everyone has affordable and safe housing, including vulnerable community members such as seniors and LGBTQ+ people,” said Senator Markey. “I am proud to have secured this $850,000 in funding for the Pryde, Boston’s first LGBTQ senior housing development with Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Warren, which will support the safety, security, and wellbeing of all residents. These investments are critical in supporting elders aging with dignity, grace, and surrounded by community.”
“This Community Project Funding will help us keep our promise to our future residents, as well as to the Hyde Park community and the LGBTQ+ community of greater Boston, that The Pryde and our Community Center will be richly resourced, joyful, caring and welcoming places where our elders and the community will be embraced, supported and celebrated,” said Gretchen Van Ness, Executive Director of LGBTQ Senior Housing, Inc.
“In other words, where our elders will be home. Our community could have no better advocates than Congresswoman Pressley and Senators Warren and Markey. Congresswoman Pressley understands the critical need for LGBTQ-affirming senior housing, programs and services, and despite enormous backlash, she has never stopped fighting for The Pryde and our LGBTQ elders.”
— from a press release from the office of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
