Mary Ellen McCormack

Home is more than where you rest your head. It’s where you raise a family, host celebrations, and return at the end of the day. Ideally, it’s one of the few constants in life, but all homes eventually need updating, reimagining, and redeveloping.

The Mary Ellen McCormack community is no different. After 80 years of providing homes to more than 3,000 residents of South Boston, the property needs an upgrade, and that’s exactly what it’s going to get. Working closely with WinnDevelopment, United Way is helping residents come together to build a Mary Ellen McCormack Community of Opportunity.  

THE PLAN

Mary Ellen McCormack, an 80-year-old subsidized housing development, has exciting changes in store. Currently, the units and bedrooms are small and the neighborhood amenities and utilities are outdated. Residents don’t have easy access to basic needs, such as affordable groceries or parking.

WinnDevelopment has engaged United Way to serve as the Lead in the Community of Opportunity, a consortium of over 20 service providers and community organizations aiming to transform the Mary Ellen McCormack into a place that fosters economic mobility and supports the needs of residents who call this home.

The new Mary Ellen McCormack Community will be a mixed income residential model with easier access to retail, open community and meeting space, and parking, with thoughtful integration of services like senior support. The Community of Opportunity will provide oversight to the development of strategies for supporting resident needs related to education, health, employment, economic mobility, housing, and community engagement.

When reconstruction is complete, the property will be one of the largest mixed-income developments in the country, with 1-for-1 replacement of the 1,016 existing subsidized units, 200 new units of middle-income housing and 1,823 units of market-rate housing and an anticipated 9,500+ residents.   

United Way is honored to partner with residents and many community organizations predominantly based in South Boston to reimagine a new community model promoting economic mobility and success for everyone living at Mary Ellen McCormack.