Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to encourage the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to low and moderate-income families and individuals and to foster diverse and sustainable communities through planning and community development.

Born out of a small group of community leaders who understood that housing was a critical issue of the civil rights movement in 1967, CHAPA believes that every person in Massachusetts should have a safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home in the communities they choose, free of discrimination.

Throughout CHAPA’s history, we have successfully advocated for the passage of numerous Housing Bond Bills and legislative priorities to fund affordable housing development and programs throughout Massachusetts. CHAPA helped create the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Law (Chapter 40B) so those with low and moderate incomes could find safe and affordable homes in every city and town in the Commonwealth. CHAPA also helped create our state’s rental subsidy programs, Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), and the strongest expiring use law in the nation (Chapter 40T).

CHAPA was also instrumental in the establishment of the Boston Housing Court, the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants, the Boston Fair Housing Commission, MassHousing, and the Department of Housing and Community Development (now the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities), among others.

Now, there’s never been a better moment to put Massachusetts on a path to equity, resilience and sustainability through housing. CHAPA has a bold plan to cultivate a stronger housing ecosystem statewide so that all our neighborhoods, towns, and villages can thrive. We must create 200,000 homes by 2030, with 40,000 affordable homes and 20,000 deeply affordable homes as part of the solution.

Annual Reports