Desirae Valentin has been hired as Chelsea’s Housing and Community Preservation Coordinator and is working in coordination with the Chelsea Community Preservation Committee and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Valentin brings outstanding credentials to the key position. She attended Bates College where she received a degree in Physics. She received her Master’s degree in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Valentin began her new role on Sept. 15, having been appointed by City Manager Thomas Ambrosino and Housing and Community Development Director Alex Train.
Valentin, whose office is located in the Department of Housing and Community Development at City Hall, will be working with the Community Preservation Committee and Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board to “try and align and unify what they envision for programming and build out their capacity for programming and projects related to housing, open space, recreation, and historic preservation and also improve the quality of life for residents, improve public health, and also maintain the Chelsea that we have today and uplift it.”
Valentin said that this week she rolled out the city’s homeowners stabilization program, which is similar to the emergency rental assistance program.
“This aspect of the rental assistance program is for single-family to four-family homeowners who currently reside in their home to help them pay for their mortgages, utilities, and any kind of rental arrearages that their tenants may have,” said Valentin.
She begins her role at a time when the expiration of the state’s evictions moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic is front page news.
Valentin grew up in central Texas. She moved to New England to attend prestigious Bates College in Maine. She completed her Master’s degree requirements at UMass/Amherst this summer.
She hopes to be active in the Chelsea community and attend local events.
“I love Chelsea,” said Valentin. “It’s wonderful. For most of my lunch break, I try to get out and walk but it’s getting a little colder. I’m trying to explore and try to get to know Chelsea a little bit better which has been difficult because of COVID-19. But I am liking both City Hall and Chelsea as a city.”