Affordable Housing in West Gloucester

According to the Cape Ann Beacon, the nonprofit Caleb Foundation will be taking on the creation of 34 new units of affordable rental housing for families on what was once the site of the LePage’s glue factory on the banks of the Annisquam River in West Gloucester.  The LePage Apartments at Pond View Village, when complete, will offer social service coordination to the residents, as well as access to a computer center and community room. LePage Apartments will be partially solar-powered.

The glue company, started in 1876, manufactured glue from fish waste and grew to be an internationally-known adhesive brand.  The Caleb Foundation and The Caleb Group, based in Swampscott, supports preserving old buildings, and provides services and/or operates nearly 2,000 units of affordable housing in four New England states.

The mill, which had one of the first steam engines in the country, was closed in 1955 and, with the exception of it being used as a set location during the filming of Jumanji in 1995, had mostly been vacant. Now partially solar-powered, the property has a patio in the back that overlooks the Great Works River, offers a walking path along the river to residents for fishing and recreation and is easy walking for elderly residents to town services and local shops.

The Caleb Foundation owns or manages nearly 1,200 units of affordable housing at 22 locations in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut and manages about 80% of the units owned. The Caleb Foundation, a non-profit organization, has created and maintained homes for low-income residents since 1992. Its affiliate, The Caleb Group, was created to provide the services and resources to help women, men and children achieve self-sufficiency.

Read the entire Cape Ann Beacon article.