The Salem News: Harborlight's Andrew DeFranza Recognized for Affordable Housing Work

September 14, 2016

By: NULL

By: Arianna MacNeill, Staff Writer

BEVERLY — Earning Congressman Seth Moulton's first Peter J. Gomes Service Award came as a surprise to Andrew DeFranza, executive director for Harborlight Community Partners.

There were six finalists narrowed down from a nominee pool of 30. But DeFranza's work with Harborlight to provide housing to those most in need throughout the North Shore stood out.

The new award, established by Moulton about a month ago and awarded in Lynn Sunday, endeavors to annually recognize someone in the 6th Congressional District, which Moulton represents, "who best epitomizes the qualities of integrity, compassion, and commitment to community that were the foundation of the late Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes' teachings," according to a news release.

Gomes was the minister of the The Memorial Church of Harvard University for almost 40 years, and was also an author and teacher. He passed away in 2011 at age 68. Moulton cited Gomes as "my mentor and my friend."

“He once wrote, 'The very definition of service is to love our neighbors as ourselves, work for peace and not for war, and remember that the only hands on earth to do the work of service are our own,'" Moulton said in a prepared statement.

During the award ceremony, Moulton described how through the last nine years, Harborlight has helped create nearly 500 affordable housing units throughout the North Shore.

"But it was the description submitted by his nominator that really set Andrew apart," Moulton said. "This focus on community and affordable housing is not merely to put a roof over the heads of those in need, but it also an effort to ensure that many public servants — teachers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters — can afford to live in the town in which they work and have grown up."

DeFranza said that all of the nominees and finalists are "great people" and stressed that "everything we're doing is a very large team effort." That goes for staff at Harborlight to the people living in the complexes the organization helps build, to the local officials and boards that help push the projects forward and include "people who might be excluded in the North Shore."

"That's not something I can do by myself," DeFranza said. "We were surprised, grateful, and wanted to make sure people realized it was a broad effort, and we were appreciative of the congressman's words generally."

The award ceremony was one part of an overall National Day of Service and Remembrance on the 15th anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11.

Volunteers helped out in various organizations, including Raw Art Works in Lynn and The Food Project.

The ceremony made DeFranza reflect on Moulton's work.

"I think it made me realize how much of an ethics-based community leader he is," he said, adding that the congressman "called out our better selves" and spoke of "making the world a better place."

Considering the darker climate surrounding Congress over the last few years, the ceremony was a way to "enhance kindness."

"I was proud to be from the Sixth District," DeFranza said.

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