Ginny Gilmartin Email and Phone Number

Housing is a basic human need, and I also believe, a basic right. While I was never homeless, as a child my family experienced housing insecurity. We moved several times, and we were evicted. We also lived in a housing project. During that time my mother was able to finish her college degree and get a job as Massachusetts State Social Worker in the DTA program. Although I was young, I learned from her that everyone deserves safe, clean and affordable housing. I also learned that people could want more and their dreams could be realized with a plan, support and assistance.My mother became a homeowner for the first time in 1989 at the age of 51. She was able to purchase the home she grew up in, located in Quincy Mass. The home was a single family with a store front. Affordable Housing was just becoming a thing around that time and my mother applied for and was awarded a grant to renovate her storefront into a 3-bedroom unit. She was the first person to be accepted into this program and became the poster child for it. There were many stipulations but the one that stands out is that she had to rent the unit at an affordable rate for 10 years. I am proud to say that she kept it affordable the entire time she owned the property. My mum was often a mentor and counselor to her tenants and helped many of them become homeowners too. She truly believed “something changed” in you, when you became a homeowner. I believe this also.People can be very discouraged by the cost of housing in Massachusetts. They also have a lot of unconscious biases around who can or should be a homeowner. I have taught hundreds of classes and there are always nay-sayers. It is my goal and personal mission to expel their misbeliefs with correct information, resources, examples, guidance and support. When someone buys a home, it is not only theirs. Children, nieces, nephews and friends all share in the ownership. A lightbulb goes off for people, “If they did it, I can too”. There are countless studies and research on the financial benefits of homeownership but that is not the whole story. People who feel financial success are not only happier, but they are also healthier. They contribute more positively to society and their communities. They make this world a better place for us all, and that is why this work is so important to me. I have been "on the ground" a very long time and now seek to train, mentor and manage those doing this critical work.