I've been running the state's stimulus program for nearly two and half years now but I am still awed by the breadth of programs in Massachusetts that have been impacted by the Recovery Act.
I say this now because two weeks ago I was out in Quincy to see how stimulus funds of $6.8 million to build the Quincy Concourse are enabling the city's $1.3 billion downtown development.
Last week I visited Castle Square Apartments in Boston's South End which, thanks to a $4.4 million stimulus grant, is the site of the largest Deep Energy Retrofit ever undertaken in the country, slashing energy usage by a whopping 72 percent. For the residents at this affordable housing project, that means big cost savings.
This week, I am attending the opening of Lynn Economic Opportunity's Early Head Start Child Care Center, a building that was purchased with the help of a $3 million stimulus grant. The building will help the anti-poverty agency more effectively serve the needs of parents in this area.
In the course of a few weeks, I'm seeing the best of what stimulus can do and this is just a small glimpse into the life of a program that has been doing this kind of thing for over two years. From roads to housing to child care, the stimulus program has been relentless in its impact on nearly every aspect of what we as a society need to function and flourish.
I'll be blogging often to take a look at how the program is leaving its mark on the state.
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