City Celebrates New Permanent Supportive Housing
6/27/2025 • 5 months ago
Cambridge Celebrates New Development Providing Affordable Permanent Supportive Housing
The City of Cambridge, with the Affordable Housing Trust (CAHT) and the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA), celebrated a recently completed Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) development at 116 Norfolk Street, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 12, 2025. With funding from the City through the Affordable Housing Trust, as well as other public and private funding, the CHA has completed the construction of 62 new PSH units.
PSH is a research-backed solution for chronic or long-term homelessness that pairs subsidized housing with case management and voluntary supportive services. Residents have leases and are apartment tenants like residents of any other apartment building. 116 Norfolk Street is now home to individuals who experienced long-term homelessness and offers robust, in-house supportive services provided by Eliot Community Human Services.
The CHA reconfigured the existing historic building, previously containing 37 Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units, into 38 self-contained studio apartments with accommodations for older adults and people with disabilities. A newly constructed addition to the rear of the historic building contains 24 studio units, creating a total of 62 units on the property.
In addition to stable housing, the CHA will provide wraparound services to tenants to support their ability to maintain housing. The PSH model is client-driven and housing providers work to develop service supports that are tailored to tenants’ individual needs. Services can range from supporting life skills development (teaching tenants how to do their laundry or get food at local pantries) to helping tenants access behavioral health services, medical care, or substance use recovery services. The supports also focus on building community and maintaining support networks, which are both critical components for residents’ ability to maintain stable tenancies.
“The Permanent Supportive Housing model implemented in these recent projects represents the innovative, holistic, and client-driven approach that the City and our partners are taking to address homelessness in Cambridge,” said Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services. “We are incredibly fortunate to have partners who share our commitment to implementing strategies that support people in their ability to maintain stable housing.”
116 Norfolk was developed under the City’s Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) zoning provisions and is the first AHO development to be completed and occupied by residents. After completing the AHO process in October 2022, construction began in 2023 and finished in 2025. The renovation and expansion of 116 Norfolk was made possible with over $10 million in funding from the CAHT. Other funding sources included Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and funding from the CHA.
“Funding the creation of Permanent Supportive Housing is an important part of the Affordable Housing Trust’s work, but it is often simply categorized as affordable housing with the service component not emphasized,” said Cambridge Housing Department Director, Chris Cotter. “Our support of PSH reflects our understanding that people may face many barriers to housing and that affordability is only one of them. Other barriers may require long-term support, which is why this type of affordable housing is so important.”