North Shore Housing Crisis Takes Center Stage At Beverly Church Forum

BEVERLY, MA — More than 100 residents from across the North Shore are expected to push for rent stabilization and a real estate transfer fee at a community forum in Beverly on Wednesday night.

The residents of Beverly, Danvers, Peabody, Salem and other area communities are planning to urge State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and State Rep. Hannah Bowen (D-Beverly) to tackle the housing crisis initiatives and speak about the effects of the deportation crisis in their communities.

The Essex County Community Organization is hosting the "Our Homes, Our Neighbors, Our Future" event at the First Baptist Church in Beverly.

The two-hour event will feature testimonies from community members on their housing struggles, and explanations of each of the policies: rent stabilization and the real estate transfer fee.

This is the first of the planned rent stabilization forums happening across the state this fall through our Homes for All Massachusetts coalition.

This is the biggest grassroots housing event taking place in Beverly and Salem this year. Organizers said that because rent stabilization is easy to understand, popular and highly controversial, it attracts major public attention.

The event is set for 6 to 8 p.m. at the church at 221 Cabot Street in Beverly.

"In this intense political moment, it's time to make demands of our legislators to keep our communities safe and affordably housed," organizers said. "Across the North Shore, we're all struggling. Prices are going up, along with fears of cuts to basic social services. Many immigrants are afraid to leave the house to buy groceries or bring their children to the doctor.

"Even for those with stable housing, it's a time of anxiety. Especially with looming budget cuts, we need to make sure there's affordable housing available for the people who need it most."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)