Graduate School
Boston University School of Public Health

Undergraduate School
University of Massachusetts – Boston

Mentor
Jessica Casey, Chief Officer for Operations Policy and Oversight, MBTA, Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member and Former Rappaport Policy Fellow

Agency
City of Boston, Department of Neighborhood Development

Supervisor
Marcy Ostberg, Director, Mayor’s Housing Innovation Lab

Description of Fellowship
Luc spent the summer working for the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development (DND). His main project was with the Housing Innovation Lab where he made developed recommendations for a pilot program called “Good Landlord Loans.” This proposed product would offer small landlords financial assistance to small landlords to do critical home repairs in exchange for maintaining affordable rents for their tenants. Luc researched best practices in other cities, and interviewed 10 small landlords across the city in order to understand their experiences, their needs and their interest in the proposed Good Landlord Loan program. Taking this information, Luc collaborated with internal partners to create a feasible policy that would be easily adaptable to existing programs at DND. Luc also supported the Office of Housing Stability at DND on a number of projects that address the displacement of Boston residents. He assisted writing a policy that would require larger developers and property managers to decrease their eviction rates in their properties in order to receive city funds for projects. He also helped with writing a grant that would expand the “Stable Ground” project which focuses on the trauma of displacement through participatory community-based art and cultural programming to inform the work of the Office of Housing Stability.