The Loft—A Community Resilience Hub
The long vacant Steve’s Appliances building, future home of The Loft.
The Future of Small Cities Institute is partnering with T.R.U.E. Diversity and MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) to establish a Community Resilience Hub that will include an Urban Room community & event space, afterschool programing, and a flagship Green Energy Training Center in the heart of Taunton’s Whittenton neighborhood. This initiative will repurpose the long-vacant Steve's Appliances building at 325 Bay Street into a vibrant space dubbed "The Loft: Launchpad for Opportunity, Friendship, & Teaching."
TRUE Diversity offers a number of afterschool and cultural programing for local youth.
T.R.U.E Diversity, led by Executive Director Tanya Lobo, is a local grassroots civic and social organization dedicated to providing youth empowerment programming, advocating for diverse resources, and offering cultural exposure within the Greater Taunton community. Working together with community partners, T.R.U.E. helps expose systemic barriers and disparities affecting BIPOC youth and underserved families to improve life outcomes and responses to adversity. T.R.U.E. addresses gaps in education, mental health, finance and policies by providing school-based consultations, evidence based direct-to-youth mentoring, as well as comprehensive youth workforce development focusing on supporting resiliency skills and increasing self-sufficiency.
A Community Resilience Hub is a community-serving facility augmented to support residents, coordinate communication, distribute resources, and reduce carbon pollution while enhancing quality of life. Like the concept of an Urban Room, a Community Resilience Hub is a flexible idea that reflects the needs and civic gaps of its particular community.
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network defines Community Resilience Hubs as “community-serving facilities augmented to support residents, coordinate communication, distribute resources, and reduce carbon pollution while enhancing quality of life. Hubs provide an opportunity to effectively work at the nexus of community resilience, emergency management, climate change mitigation, and social equity while providing opportunities for communities to become more self-determining, socially connected, and successful before, during, and after disruptions.”
One of two storefront bays that will be transformed into community and program space.
The development of The Loft will be executed in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the refurbishment of two storefront spaces to accommodate community programs and activities. Phase 2 will expand the facility to include additional workforce development facilities and resources.
Once complete, The Loft will serve as a cornerstone for community engagement, education, and empowerment, offering a variety of programs and resources aimed at enhancing the quality of life for residents of Whittenton and beyond. It will serve as a hub for community gatherings, small business support, and workforce development initiatives, with a specific focus on training BIPOC youth in the clean energy sector.
For more information about The Loft and how to support this initiative, please contact Misha Thomas at mthomas@massdevelopment.com or Tanya Lobo at tanya@truediversityma.org