The Harvard Neighborhood Support Team (NST) proposed leasing the vacant Bromfield House to accommodate Afghan refugees during the Select Board’s meeting on Tuesday.
Since it formed in September, the Harvard team has quickly expanded, growing to more than 20 members and raising $15,000 to support refugee resettlement in town. But before welcoming an Afghan family, the team must secure housing, and it hopes that Bromfield House can fulfill this need.
“We have an empty building sitting in the center of town. We could make really good use of it,” said the support team’s co-leader Terry Symula. She said she has seen extensive community interest and support, emphasizing the diversity of members on their team.
Harvard’s NST works among 60 other teams across Massachusetts and New Hampshire under the WelcomeNST consortium. The organization’s founder, Elizabeth Davis-Edwards of Bolton, who was present, said there is a need for large homes; two Afghan families with more than eight members each arrived earlier this week. Both Davis-Edwards and Symula said having Bromfield House available for any duration of time—even for 6-12 months—would be valuable.
Select Board Chair Stu Sklar spoke in support of the proposal: “I think we have a moral imperative here, too.” He reiterated the currently empty state of the building and its potential to help refugees.
Select Board member Erin McBee also suggested an economic benefit: An occupied house secures better insurance rates. Symula said her group would cover all expenses and necessary improvements to the property, including the addition of a shower and purchase of lessee liability insurance.
But Pete Jackson, president of the Trustees of Bromfield School, rebutted the proposal in Tuesday’s meeting despite saying he supported the NST on a personal level, citing the court decree that requires Bromfield House to be used for educational purposes. Speaking on behalf of the trustees, he urged the Select Board to vote to sell the property as a private residence. Bev Rodrigues, who heads a group that advocates sale of the building, said the board needed to honor the definitive votes of residents at the Fall 2021 Town Meeting and Town Election in favor of selling the building and land.
In addition to these legal logistics, leasing the building to the group would require a Special Town Meeting vote. To accommodate these considerations, the Select Board plans to further discuss and act on the proposal at its next meeting in two weeks.
Meanwhile, the Harvard Neighborhood Support Team continues to prepare to welcome an Afghan family. “We are organized, we are ready, and we want to make a difference for these people that are coming to our country, because they helped us,” said Symula. “We owe them.”
Rebecca Zhang is a senior at Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and editor of the school’s student newspaper.
