Vanna Howard, state reps deliver community funding
LOWELL — It’s the season of giving thanks to the work of state representatives like Vanna Howard, who secured almost $6 million in earmarks for her district communities in the economic development bond bill signed by Gov. Maura Healey Nov. 20.
The earmarks for 2025 range from infrastructure improvements to affordable housing units and youth leadership programs.
“[The earmarks] better support families raising a family and working to make ends meet, our veterans, and our small businesses to survive and thrive,” Howard said in an email Dec. 13.
Howard represents the 17th Middlesex District of Lowell and Tewksbury, and some of her earmarks were co-sponsored by fellow representatives like Rodney Elliott, who serves Lowell and North Chelmsford in the 16th Middlesex District Rady Mom with Lowell’s 18th Middlesex District; Tram Nguyen in the 18th Essex District for the towns of Andover, Boxford, North Andover and Tewksbury; David Robertson serving Tewksbury and Wilmington in the 19th Middlesex District; and Tricia Farley-Bouvier in the 2nd Berkshire District serving the city of Pittsfield.
For Downtown Lowell, Howard secured $50,000 for sidewalk improvements and $100,000 in Project Pop Up markets to transform vacant storefronts into retail incubators.
The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association will receive $50,000 for transitional services for refugees, and the development and operation of the Lowell Community Health Center’s Family Medicine Residency Program was tapped for $1 million.
“This funding is a vital step toward addressing the primary care doctor shortage in Greater Lowell and across the Commonwealth,” LCHC CEO Susan West Levine said by email on Monday. “By training physicians in Lowell, we’re building a stronger foundation for our community’s health.”
On the housing front, Howard scored two major wins. The Lowell Housing Authority will see $500,000 for low-income veteran housing, and the Revitalization Effort Towards New Urbanism, for the production of more than 100 affordable housing units in the Merrimack Street corridor, is in line for $1 million.
Thanks to work with Nguyen and Robertson, various Tewksbury projects and initiatives will receive $125,000, as well as $250,000 for the Tewksbury Route 38 Commercial Corridor 25% Design Phase Assistance project.
Elliott signed on with Howard to bring $250,000 to the Lowell Youth Leadership Program, while Farley-Bouvier collaborated on $200,000 for Girls Inc.’s Eureka! and SMART programs.
All three of Lowell’s reps worked to deliver a $2 million authorization for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell at 657 Middlesex St. The earmark will go towards the repair and renovation of the club’s property to allow for the expansion and creation of programs to provide workforce development training, aid in closing the academic achievement gap and for the creation of permanent new jobs in the city of Lowell.
The Believe & Become Campaign has raised $14.6 million of its $17 million for phase 1 of the project, which centers largely on the expansion of the club’s building.
“The Boys and Girls Club has been a place for kids to go learn, grow and provide direction and guidance for a successful future for decades,” Elliott said by text on Monday. “I was pleased to support this finding which will provide vital funding for the Boys and Girls Club expansion project – an exciting project that will provide a state-of-the-art facility for future generation of kids and teens in Lowell.”
At the statewide level, Howard and Farley-Bouvier delivered $50,000 to the 50th Women’s Caucus Anniversary.
The 63-page billformally known as “An Act relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership,” is a sweeping economic development bill authorizing a nearly $4 billion infusion into the commonwealth’s economy while making wide-ranging policy changes to make Massachusetts more competitive.