Town and County of Nantucket - CHAPA Affordable Housing Initiative

Susan Bennett Witte, the Housing Specialist for the Town/NP&EDC since September, 2008, has been both recognized and awarded The Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) Initiative Award for her creation of three public awareness videos tackling the negative perception of affordable housing on Nantucket. The general impression on this affluent Island can be an unawareness of the housing challenges so often experienced by its residents. A positive message from and about the organizations and the people they are helping could only assist in better understanding the issue on the Island. Susan’s initial application was the concept of three mini-documentaries that would shine the light on and feature three real Island families benefiting from local housing initiatives. A Habitat for Humanity family as well as two Abrem Quary - a comprehensive permit (40B) development –home owners are featured in these minidocumentaries.

Personal and grateful chronicles of the experience of owning their own homes are shared by the families. The (3) three minute videos filmed by Tom McGlinn, co-written by Barbara Gookin, and produced by Susan Bennett Witte were made from the $4,500 awarded from CHAPA.